k^/r^-r-r 


V 


GENTLE  ART 


MAKING  ENEMIES 


Chelsea 


PUBLISHER'S  NOTE 

IN  the  presence  of  a  continued  attempt  to  issue  a  spurious  and 
garbled  version  of  Mr.  Whistler's  writings,  the  Publisher  has 
obtained  his  permission  to  bring  out  the  present  volume,  printed 
under  his  own  immediate  care  and  supervision. 


AN  EXTRAORDINARY  PIRATICAL 
PLOT 

A  most  curiously  well-c  cncoc  ted  piratical  scheme  to  publish, 
•without  his  knowledge  or  consent,  a  complete  collection  of 
Mr.  Whistler' 's  writings,  letters,  pamphlets,  lectures,  &c.,  "American  Regis- 
has  been  nipped  in  the  bud  on  the  very  eve  of  its  accom-  8>  l89°- 
plishment.  It  appears  that  the  book  was  actually  in  type 
and  ready  for  issue,  but  the  plan  ivas  to  bring  out  the 
work  simultaneously  in  England  and  America.  This  caused 
delay,  the  plates  having  to  be  shipped  to  New  York,  and 
the  strain  of  secrecy  upon  the  conspirators  during  the  interval 
•would  seem  to  have  been  too  great.  In  any  case  Indi- 
cations of  surrounding  mystery^  quite  sufficient  to  arouse 
Mr.  Whistler  3  attention,  brought  about  his  rapid  action. 
Messrs.  Lewis  and  Lewis  were  instructed  to  take  out  imme- 
diate injunction  against  the  publication  in  both  England 
and  America,  and  this  information,  at  once  cabled  across, 
•warning  all  publishers  in  the  United  States,  exploded  the 
ploty  effectually  frustrating  the  elaborate  machinations  of 
those  engaged  in  it. 


SEIZURE   OF  MR.   WHISTLER'S  PIRATED 
WRITINGS 

This  pirated  collection  oj  letter -5,  writings,  &c.,  to  whose 
frustrated  publication  in  this  country  and  America  ive 
Herald,"  London  have  already  alluded)  <was  seized  in  Antwerp,  at  the 
printers',  on  Friday  last — the  very  day  of  its  contracted 
delivery.  The  ptrsistent  and  really  desperate  speculator 
in  th  is  volume  of  difficult  birth,  baffled  in  his  attempt  to 
produce  it  in  London  and  New  York,  had  been  tracked  to 
Antwerp  by  Messrs.  Lewis  and  Lewis  ,•  and  he  was  finally 
brought  down  by  Maitre  Maeterlinck,  the  distinguished 
lawyer  of  that  city. 


THE  EXPLODED   PLOT 

With  regard  to  this  matter,  to  'which  ive  have  already 
alluded  on  a  previous  occasion,  Messrs.  Lewis  and  Lewis 
have  received  the  folio/wing  letter  from  Messrs.  Field 

and  Tuer.  of  the  Leadenhall  Press,  Dated  March   25,    "Pali Mali 

Gazette,"  March  27, 
1890:—  1890. 

"  We  have  seen  the  paragraph  in  yesterday's  '  Pall  Mall 
Gazette'  relating  to  the  publication  of  Mr.  Whistler  s  letters. 
You  may  like  to  knoiv  that  ive  recently  put  into  type  for  a 
certain  person  a  series  of  Mr.  Whistler's  letters  and  other 
matter,  taking  it  for  granted  that  Mr.  Whistler  had  given 
permission.  Quite  recently,  however,  and  fortunately  in 
time  to  stop  the  ivork  being  printed^  ive  were  told  that  Mr. 
Whistler  objected  to  his  letters  being  published.  We  then 
sent  for  the  person  in  question,  and  told  him  that  until  he 
obtained  Mr.  Whistler's  sanction  ive  declined  to  proceed 

further  ivith  the  ivork,  ivhich,  ive  may  tell  you,  is  finished  ' 
and  cast   ready  for  printing,  and   the   type  distributed. 
From  the  time  of  this  interview  ive  have  not  seen  or  heard 

from  the  person  in  question,  and  there  the  matter  rests." 


MR.  WHISTLER'S  PAPER  HUNT 

The  fruitless  attempt  to  publish  without  his  consent,  or 
ratJier  in  spite  of  his  opposition,  the  collected  'writings  of 
Mr.  Whistler  has  developed  into  a  species  of  chase  from 
,  s>"     press  to  press,  and  from  country  to  country.     With  an  ex- 

traordinary fatality,  the  unfortunate  fugitive  has  been  in- 
variably allowed  to  reach  the  very  verge  of  achievement 
before  he  ivas  surprised  by  the  long  arm  of  Messrs.  Lewis 
and  Lewis.  Each  defeat  has  been  consequently  attended 
•with  infinite  loss  of  labour,  material  and  money.  Our  readers 
have  been  told  haw  the  London  venture  came  to  nought,  and 
how  it  'was  frustrated  in  America.  The  venue  was  then 
changed,  and  Belgium,  as  a  neutral  ground,  was  supposed 
possible  ,•  but  here  again,  on  the  very  day  of  its  delivery, 
the  edition  of  ZQQO  vols.  'was  seized  by  M.  le  Procureur 
du  Roi,  and  under  the  nose  of  the  astounded  and  discomfited 
speculator,  the  packed  and  corded  bales,  of  'which  he  was 
about  to  take  possession,  were  carried  off  in  the  Government 
van  !  The  upshot  of  the  untiring  efforts  of  this  persistent 
adventurer  at  length  results  in  furnishing  Mr.  Whistler 
•with  the  first  and  only  copy  of  this  curious  •work,  •which 
•was  certainly  anything  but  the  intention  of  its  compiler,  'who 
clearly,  judging  from  its  contents,  had  reserved  for  him  an 
unpleasing  if  not  crushing  surprise  ! 


A   GREAT  LITERARY  CURIOSITY 

I  have  to-day  seen  the  printed  book  itself  of  the  Collected 
Writings  of  Mr.  Whistler,  whose  publication  has  proved 
so  comically  impossible.  The  style  of  the  preface  and  accessory  Gazette"  March  29, 
comments  is  in  the  'worst  style  of  Western  editorship  ;  "while 
the  disastrous  effect  of  Mr.  Whistler's  literature  upon  the 
one  'who  has  burned  his  fingers  'with  it,  is  amusingly  shown, 

In  the  index  occur  such  well-known  names  as  Mr.  J. 
C.  Horsley,  R.A.,  Mr.  Labouchere,  Mr.  Ruskin,  Mr.Linley 
Sambourne,  Mr.  Swmburne,  Tom  Taylor,  Mr.  Frith,  and 
Rossetti.  The  Jamous  catalogue  of  the  "Second  Exhibi- 
tion of  Venice  Etchings,  February  19,  1883,"  in  'which 
Mr.  Whistler  quotes  the  critics,  is  also  given. 


A  LAST  EFFORT 

We  hear  that  a  th'vd  attempt  has  been  made  to  produce 

"PaUMaU  ***  pirated  cofy  of  Mr.    Whistler's  collected  -writings. 

GMTtte.*  April  9,      flfusrs   Lctob  and  Lewis  have  at  once  taken  legal  steps  to 

stop  the  edition  (printed  in  Paris)  at  the  Customs.     A 

cablegram  has  been  received  by  Mr.  Whistler* s  solicitors 

stating  that  Messrs.  Stokes  s  name  has  been  affixed  to  the 

title-page  of  the  pirated  book  loithout  the  sanction  of  those 

publishers. 


THE    GENTLE   ART 

OF 

MAKING    ENEMIES 

AS  PLEASINGLY  EXEMPLIFIED 

IN  MANY  INSTANCES,  WHEREIN  THE  SERIOUS  ONES 
OF  THIS  EARTH,  CAREFULLY  EXASPERATED,  HAVE 
BEEN  PRETTILY  SPURRED  ON  TO  UNSEEMLINESS 
AND  INDISCRETION,  WHILE  OVERCOME  BY  AN 

UNDUE   SENSE   OF  RIGHT 


A   THIRD  EDITION 


NEW  YORK    MCMIY 
G.  P.  PUTNAM!*  SONS 


Printed  1890 
Reprinted  i8gz :  1904 


CofiyrieM  1890  by 
J.  Mci\eill  II  'histler 


To 

The  rare  Fetv,  'who,  early  in  Life, 

have  rid  Themselves  of  the  Friendship 

of  the  Many,   these   pathetic    Papers 

are  inscribed 


"MESSIEURS  LES  ENNEMTS!' 


Prologue 

"  J70R  Mr.  Whistler's  own  sake,  no  less  than  for  the 
Professor  John        protection  of  the  purchaser,  Sir  Coutts  Lindsay  ought 

Ruskin  in  Fors  r 

not  to  have  admitted  works  into  the  gallery  in  which 
the  ill-educated  conceit  of  the  artist  so  nearly  ap- 
proached the  aspect  of  wilful  imposture.  I  have  seen, 
and  heard,  much  of  cockney  impudence  before  now  ; 
but  never  expected  to  hear  a  coxcomb  ask  two  hundred 
guineas  for  flinging  a  pot  of  paint  in  the  public's 
face." 

JOHN  RUSKIN. 


THE  GENTLE  ART 


The  Action 


JN  the  Court  of  Exchequer  Division  on  Monday, 
before  Baron  Huddleston  and  a  special  jury,  the  case 
of  Whistler  v.  Ruskin  came  on  for  hearing:.  In  this  Lawsuit  for  Libel 

against  Mr.  Kuskui, 

action  the  plaintiff  claimed  ^1000  damages.  ov' I5>  l87a 

Mr.  Serjeant  Parry  and  Mr.  Petheram  appeared 
for  the  plaintiff;  and  the  Attorney-General  and  Mr. 
Bowen  represented  the  defendant. 

Mr.  SERJEANT  PARRY,  in  opening  the  case  on  behalf 
of  the  plaintiff,  said  that  Mr.  Whistler  had  followed 
the  profession  of  an  artist  for  many  years,  both  in  this 
and  other  countries.  Mr.  Ruskin,  as  would  be  prob- 
ably known  to  the  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  held 
perhaps  the  highest  position  in  Europe  and  America 
as  an  art  critic,  and  some  of  his  works  were,  he  might 
say,  destined  to  immortality.  He  was,  in  fact,  a 
gentleman  of  the  highest  reputation.  In  the  July 
number  of  Fors  Clavigera  there  appeared  passages  in 
which  Mr.  Ruskin  criticised  what  he  called  "the 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  3 

modern  school,"  and  then  followed  the  paragraph  of 
which  Mr.  Whistler  now  complained,  and  which  was  : 
*'  For  Mr.  Whistler's  own  sake,  no  less  than  for  the 
protection  of  the  purchaser,  Sir  Coutts  Lindsay  ought 
not  to  have  admitted  works  into  the  gallery  in  which 
the  ill-educated  conceit  of  the  artist  so  nearly  ap- 
proached the  aspect  of  wilful  imposture.  I  have  seen, 
and  heard,  much  of  cockney  impudence  before  now ; 
but  never  expected  to  hear  a  coxcomb  ask  two  hundred 
guineas  for  flinging  a  pot  of  paint  in  the  public's  face." 
That  passage,  no  doubt,  had  been  read  by  thousands, 
and  so  it  had  gone  forth  to  the  world  that  Mr. 
Whistler  was  an  ill-educated  man,  an  impostor,  a 
cockney  pretender,  and  an  impudent  coxcomb. 

Mr.  WHISTLER,  cross-examined  by  the  ATTORNEY- 
GENERAL,  said  :  "  I  have  sent  pictures  to  the  Academy 
which  have  not  been  received.  I  believe  that  is  the 

experience  of  all  artists The  nocturne  in  black 

and  gold  is  a  night  piece,  and  represents  the  fireworks 
at  Cremorne." 

"  Not  a  view  of  Cremorne  ?  " 

"If  it  were  called  a  view  of  Cremorne,  it  would 
certainly  bring  about  nothing  but  disappointment 
on  the  part  of  the  beholders.  (Laughter.)  It  is  an 
artistic  arrangement.  It  was  marked  two  hundred 
guineas." 


4  THE  GENTLE  ART 

"  Is  not  that  what  we,  who  are  not  artists,  would  call 
a  stiffish  price  ?  " 

"  I  think  it  very  likely  that  that  may  be  so." 

"  But  artists  always  give  good  value  for  their 
money,  don't  they  ?  " 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  so  well  established.  (A 
laugh.)  I  do  not  know  Mr.  Ruskin,  or  that  he  holds 
the  view  that  a  picture  should  only  be  exhibited  when 
it  is  finished,  when  nothing  can  be  done  to  improve  it, 
but  that  is  a  correct  view  ;  the  arrangement  in  black 
and  gold  was  a  finished  picture,  I  did  not  intend  to  do 
anything  more  to  it." 

"  Now,  Mr.  Whistler.  Can  you  tell  me  how  long  it 
took  you  to  knock  off  that  nocturne  ?  " 

.  ..."  I  beg  your  pardon  ?  "     (Laughter.) 

"  Oh  !  I  am  afraid  that  I  am  using  a  term  that 
applies  rather  perhaps  to  my  own  work.  I  should 
have  said,  'How  long  did  you  take  to  paint  that 
picture  ? ' " 

"  Oh,  no  !  permit  me,  I  am  too  greatly  flattered  to 
think  that  you  apply,  to  work  of  mine,  any  term  that 
you  are  in  the  habit  of  using  with  reference  to  your 
own.  Let  us  say  then  how  long  did  I  take  to — '  knock 
off,'  I  think  that  is  it — to  knock  off  that  nocturne ; 
well,  as  well  as  I  remember,  about  a  day." 

"  Only  a  day  ?  " 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  5 

"  Well,  I  won't  be  quite  positive ;  I  may  have  still 
put  a  few  more  touches  to  it  the  next  day  if  the 
painting  were  not  dry.  I  had  better  say  then,  that 
I  was  two  days  at  work  on  it." 

"  Oh,  two  days !  The  labour  of  two  days,  then,  is 
that  for  which  you  ask  two  hundred  guineas !  " 

"  No ; — I  ask  it  for  the  knowledge  of  a  lifetime." 
(Applause.) 

"You  have  been  told  that  your  pictures  exhibit 
some  eccentricities  ?  " 

"  Yes  ;  often."    (Laughter.) 

"  You  send  them  to  the  galleries  to  incite  the  admi- 
ration of  the  public  ?  " 

"That  would  be  such  vast  absurdity  on  my  part, 
that  I  don't  think  I  could."  (Laughter.) 

"  You  know  that  many  critics  entirely  disagree  with 
your  views  as  to  these  pictures  ?  " 

"  It  would  be  beyond  me  to  agree  with  the  critics." 

"  You  don't  approve  of  criticism  then  ?  " 

"  I  should  not  disapprove  in  any  way  of  technical 
criticism  by  a  man  whose  whole  life  is  passed  in  the 
practice  of  the  science  which  he  criticises ;  but  for  the 
opinion  of  a  man  whose  life  is  not  so  passed  I  would 
have  as  little  regard  as  you  would,  if  he  expressed  an 
opinion  on  law." 

"  You  expect  to  be  criticised  ?  " 


6  THE  GENTLE  ART 

"  Yes;  certainly.  And  I  do  not  expect  to  be  affected 
by  it,  until  it  becomes  a  case  of  this  kind.  It  is 
not  only  when  criticism  is  inimical  that  I  object  to  it, 
but  also  when  it  is  incompetent.  I  hold  that  none 
but  an  artist  can  be  a  competent  critic." 

"  You  put  your  pictures  upon  the  garden  wall,  Mr. 
Whistler,  or  hang  them  on  the  clothes-line,  don't  you 
— to  mellow  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  understand." 

"  Do  you  not  put  your  paintings  out  into  the 
garden?" 

"  Oh  !  I  understand  now.  I  thought,  at  first,  that 
you  were  perhaps  again  using  a  term  that  you  are 
accustomed  to  yourself.  Yes ;  I  certainly  do  put  the 
canvases  into  the  garden  that  they  may  dry  in  the 
open  air  while  I  am  painting,  but  I  should  be  sorry  to 
see  them '  mellowed.' " 

"  Why  do  you  call  Mr.  Irving  '  an  arrangement  in 
black  '  ?  "  (Laughter.) 

Mr.  BARON  HUDDLESTON :  "It  is  the  picture,  and 
not  Mr.  Irving,  that  is  the  arrangement." 

A  discussion  ensued  as  to  the  inspection  of  the 
pictures,  and  incidentally  Baron  Huddleston  remarked 
that  a  critic  must  be  competent  to  form  an  opinion, 
and  bold  enough  to  express  that  opinion  in  strong 
terms  if  necessary. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  7 

The  ATTORNEY-GENERAL  complained  that  no  answer 
was  given  to  a  written  application  by  the  defendant's 
solicitors  for  leave  to  inspect  the  pictures  which  the 
plaintiff  had  been  called  upon  to  produce  at  the  trial. 
The  WITNESS  replied  that  Mr.  Arthur  Severn  had 
been  to  his  studio  to  inspect  the  paintings,  on  behalf 
of  the  defendant,  for  the  purpose  of  passing  his  final 
judgment  upon  them  and  settling  that  question  for 
ever. 

Cross-examination  continued  :  "  What  was  the  sub- 
ject of  the  nocturne  in  blue  and  silver  belonging  to 
Mr.  Grahame  ?  " 

"  A  moonlight  effect  on  the  river  near  old  Battersea 
Bridge." 

"  What  has  become  of  the  nocturne  in  black  and 
gold  ?  " 

"  I  believe  it  is  before  you."     (Laughter.) 

The  picture  called  the  nocturne  in  blue  and  silver 
was  now  produced  in  Court. 

"  That  is  Mr.  Grahame's  picture.  It  represents  Bat- 
tersea Bridge  by  moonlight." 

BARON  HUDDLESTON  :  "  Which  part  of  the  picture 
is  the  bridge  ?  "  (Laughter.) 

His  Lordship  earnestly  rebuked  those  who  laughed. 
And  witness  explained  to  his  Lordship  the  composition 
of  the  picture. 


8  THE  GENTLE  ART 

11  Do  you  say  that  this  is  a  correct  representation  of 
Battersea  Bridge  ?  " 

"  I  did  not  intend  it  to  be  a  *  correct '  portrait  of  the 
bridge.  It  is  only  a  moonlight  scene,  and  the  pier  in 
the  centre  of  the  picture  may  not  be  like  the  piers  at 
Battersea  Bridge  as  you  know  them  in  broad  daylight. 
As  to  what  the  picture  represents,  that  depends  upon 
who  looks  at  it.  To  some  persons  it  may  represent  all 
that  is  intended  ;  to  others  it  may  represent  nothing." 

"  The  prevailing  colour  is  blue  ?  " 

"  Perhaps." 

"  Are  those  figures  on  the  top  of  the  bridge  in- 
tended for  people  ?  " 

"  They  are  just  what  you  like." 

"  Is  that  a  barge  beneath  ?  " 

"  Yes.  I  am  very  much  encouraged  at  your  perceiv- 
ing that.  My  whole  scheme  was  only  to  bring  about 
a  certain  harmony  of  colour." 

"  What  is  that  gold-coloured  mark  on  the  right  of 
the  picture  like  a  cascade  ?  " 

"  The  *  cascade  of  gold  '  is  a  firework." 

A  second  nocturne  in  blue  and  silver  was  then  pro- 
duced. 

WITNESS  :  "  That  represents  another  moonlight 
scene  on  the  Thames  looking  up  Battersea  Reach. 
I  completed  the  mass  of  the  picture  in  one  day." 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  9 

The  Court  then  adjourned.  During  the  interval  the 
jury  visited  the  Probate  Court  to  view  the  pictures  which 
had  been  collected  in  the  Westminster  Palace  Hotel. 

After  the  Court  had  re-assembled  the  "  Nocturne  in 
Black  and  Gold  "  was  again  produced,  and  Mr.  WHIS- 
TLER was  further  cross-examined  by  the  ATTORNEY- 
GENERAL  :  "  The  picture  represents  a  distant  view  of 
Cremorne  with  a  falling  rocket  and  other  fireworks. 
It  occupied  two  days,  and  is  a  finished  picture.  The 
black  monogram  on  the  frame  was  placed  in  its  posi- 
tion with  reference  to  the  proper  decorative  balance  of 
the  whole." 

"  You  have  made  the  study  of  Art  your  study  of  a 
lifetime.  Now,  do  you  think  that  anybody  looking  at 
that  picture  might  fairly  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  had  no  peculiar  beauty  ?  " 

"I  have  strong  evidence  that  Mr.  Ruskin  did  come 
to  that  conclusion." 

"  Do  you  think  it  fair  that  Mr.  Ruskin  should  come 
to  that  conclusion  ?  " 

"What  might  be  fair  to  Mr.  Ruskin  I  cannot 
answer." 

"  Then  you  mean,  Mr.  Whistler,  that  the  initiated  in 
technical  matters  might  have  no  difficulty  in  under- 
standing your  work.  But  do  you  think  now  that  you 
could  make  me  see  the  beauty  of  that  picture  ?  " 


io  THE  GENTLE  ART 

The  witness  then  paused,  and  examining  attentively 
the  Attorney-General's  face  and  looking  at  the  picture 
alternately,  said,  after  apparently  giving  the  subject 
much  thought,  while  the  Court  waited  in  silence  for 
his  answer  : 

"  No  !  Do  you  know  I  fear  it  would  be  as  hopeless 
as  for  the  musician  to  pour  his  notes  into  the  ear  of 
a  deaf  man.  (Laughter.) 

"  I  offer  the  picture,  which  I  have  conscientiously 
painted,  as  being  worth  two  hundred  guineas.  I  have 
known  unbiased  people  express  the  opinion  that  it 
represents  fireworks  in  a  night-scene.  I  would  not 
complain  of  any  person  who  might  simply  take  a 
different  view." 

The  Court  then  adjourned. 

The  ATTORNEY-  GENERAL,  in  resuming  his  address 

on   behalf   of   the   defendant    on   Tuesday,   said   he 

hoped  to  convince  the  jury,  before  his  case  closed, 

•  ••Enter  now      that  Mr.  Ruskin's  criticism  upon  the  plaintiffs  pic- 

the  great  room 

*\he*endoVTfoer   tures  was  perfectly  fair  and  bond  fide  ;  *  and  that, 

which  the  painter 

lu£Lrned  b'efo'r?    however  severe  it  might  be,  there  was  nothing  that 


0      could  reasonably  be  complained  of  .....  Let  them 

JOHNRUSKIN: 

<p££re°i?A?a£my  BaBMUne  the  nocturne  in  blue  and  silver,  said  to  repre- 
°yen£.    '  sent  Battersea  Bridge.     What  was  that  structure  in 

the   middle?     Was   it   a  telescope  or  a  fire-escape? 

Was  it  like  Battersea  Bridge  ?    What  were  the  figures 


11 


he  been  a  great 


•wherever  he  chose 
...  •  •  butheisa 
little  and  a  bad 


»ir«Peatthere 

is  nothing  but  the 


or  right  in  its  gene- 

rai  impression 

and  nothing,  there- 


<sic).-J.  RUSKIN, 

^rt/r«  e^°,r,L*-c 

Modern  Painters. 


Shu!?  t'hVcontrast 


, 

the  colours  are  all 

*SJtiS&&*' 

JOHN  RUSKIX,  Art 

Authority. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES 
at  the  top  of  the  bridge  ?  And  if  they  were  horses 
and  carts,  how  in  the  name  of  fortune  were  they  to 
get  off  ?  Now,  about  these  pictures,  if  the  plaintiffs 
argument  was  to  avail,  they  must  not  venture  publicly 

,     •  ,1  TIT  i_  T_J. 

to  express  an  opinion,  or  they  would  nave  brought 
against  them  an  action  for  damages. 

__          .          .  .     ,., 

After  all,  Critics  had  their  uses.*     He  should  like 

, 

to  know  what  would  become  of  Poetry,  of  Politics, 
of  Painting,  if  Critics  were  to  be  extinguished  ?  Every 

_..  lli  1    •      •         £ 

Painter  struggled  to  obtain  tame. 

No  artist  could  obtain  fame,  except  through  criti- 

.  , 

CISm.T 

^  111 

....  As  to  these  pictures,  they  could  only  come 

J  J 

to  the  conclusion  that  they  were  strange  fantastical 
conceits  not  worthy  to  be  called  works  of  Art. 

....  Coming  to  the  libel,  the  Attorney-General 

•* 

said  it  had  been  contended  that  Mr.  Ruskin  was  not 
lustmed  in  interfering  with  a  man  s  livelihood.  But 

J 

why  not  ?  Then  it  was  said,  "  Oh  !  you  have  ridiculed 
Mr.  Whistler's  pictures."  If  Mr.  Whistler  disliked 

•  I'l!  i          11  ,     i  i«       L     j     1*  i£     j.         '.i. 

ridicule,  he  should  not  have  subiected  himselt  to  it 
by  exhibiting  publicly  such  productions.  If  a  man 
thought  a  picture  was  a  daub  J  he  had  a  right  to  say 
So,  without  subjecting  himself  to  a  risk  of  an  action. 

He  would  not  be  able  to  cal1  Mr.  Ruskin,  as  he  was 
f  ar  too  ill  to  attend  ;  but,  if  he  had  been  able  to  appear, 


single  purpose  of  enabling" 

myself  to  judge  rightly  ofart 

....  earnestly  desiring  to 


art  ;  also  knowing  that  this 

truth  was  by  time  'and  labou 

definitely  ascertamable.  — 


LEAST  IMPORTANT  OF  ALL 

TRUTHs."-Mr.  RUSKIN, 

Prof-  of  Art  :  Modern 

*"«*•*«,  VOL  i.  a*p.  v. 


"  And  that  colour  is  indeed 
a  n?0?1  unimportant  charac- 

temtic  of  objects,  would  be 

further  evident  on  the 


changing  with  the  season 


dependent  of  these  changes. 

An  oak  is  an  oak,  whether 

green  with  spring,  or  red 


or  crimson;  and  if  some 

monster  hunting  florist  should 

ever  frljrhten  the  flower  blue, 

n01^ioTfi"hbeesaameharbiWbaUry 

changes  could  be  effected  in 


of  the  boughs  be  smoothed 

or  diminished,  and  the  oak 

ceases  to  be  an  oak  ;  but  let 


still"—  JOHN  RUSKIN 


"—  JOH 

' 


REFLECTION: 
'  In  conduct  and  in  conversation, 
It  did  a  sinner  good  to  hear 
Him  deal  in  ratiocination  ! 


12 


THE  GENTLE  ART 


he  would  have  given  his  opinion  of  Mr.  Whistler's 


ilSrlSf*  work  in  the  witness-box. 

tending  modern 
German  picture  at 
Dusseldorf,  by 
Bosch,  represent- 
ing a  boy  carving 
a  model  of  his 
sheep  dog  in 
wood."— J.  RUS- 
KIS:  Modern 
Painters. 


t  "  Vulgarity. 
dulness,  or  impiety 


in  Rembrandt. 
Prof.  JOHN  RUS- 
KIN:  Modtrn 


He  had  the  highest  appreciation  for  completed  pic- 
tures ;t  and  he  required  from  an  artist  that  he  should 

•  "I  have  just 

possess  something  more  than  a  few  flashes  of  genius  !*  ^ofS'earth, 

•*  r         -r-k        i   •  Ai  •  •  i_  t.    and  cloud  must  be 

Mr.  Ruskin  entertaining  those  views,  it  was  not  known  by  the 

painter  with  geo- 

wonderful  that  his  attention  should  be  attracted  to  &£*££*? 

Slade  Prof.  RUS- 

Mr.  Whistler's  pictures.     He  subjected  the  pictures,  vatttMtm 
Spre^sMfem^s  if  they  chose,  J  to  ridicule  and  contempt.     Then  Mr. 
SSbSs*5!85  Ruskin  spoke  of  "the  ill-educated  §  conceit  of  the  ^"£*£$fc 

...  i  i   •  ,  i  ,  •  r>    «  ,1    for  instance,  nghtly 

artist,  so  nearly  approaching  the  action  or  imposture,    to  draw  certain 

J       rr  forms  of  the  upper 

If  his  pictures  were  mere  extravagances,  how  could  it  SSuSrmlSf* 
redound  to  the  credit  of  Mr.  Whistler  to  send  them  knife  w£h  loaded 

white  after  the 

to  the   Grosvenor  Gallery  to    be    exhibited  ?     Some  SSZSo&T' 

RUSKIN,  Prof,  cf 

artistic  gentleman  from  Manchester,  Leeds,  or  Shef-  v*™*™s- 
field  might  perhaps  be  induced  to  buy  one  of  the  pic- 
tures because  it  was  a  Whistler,  and  what  Mr.  Ruskin 
meant  was  that  he  might  better  have  remained  in 
Manchester,  Sheffield,  or  Leeds,  with  his  money  in  his 
pocket.  It  was  said  that  the  term  "  ill-educated  con- 
ceit" ought  never  to  have  been  applied  to  Mr.  Whistler, 
And  thus  we  who  had  devoted  the  whole  of  his  life  to  educating 

.-.A^A    nim*t*» 

himself  in 


are  guided,  almost 
forced,  by  the  laws 

of  nature;  to  do 

right  in  art.     Had 


«  "  The  principal 
object  in  the  fore- 

but  Mr.  Ruskin's  views  ^  as  to  his  Aiding rfcwtt 

right  in  art.     Had  _._  ,          •  ,1        .1  <»•»«-         ITTI   •    ,  i  age ' is  a  Kr.°.uP  of 

granite  been  white      SUCC6SS  did    not     aCCOrd    With     thOSe  Ot     Mr.     Whistler,    children  sailing  toy 
and  marble  boats.    The  exqm- 

ESf&KttS,  The  libel  complained  of  said  also,  "  I  never  expected  SSfit?!^ 

been,  but  by  the  quite  as  appreci- 

apSm^enHorthe  *°  ^eai>  a  coxcomb  ask  two  hundred  guineas  for  fling-  •*jJf§KJJJ*: 

good  of  man  *).  the  it  has  nothing  to  do 

huge  figures  of  the  Egyptian  would  have  been  with  the  technicalities  of  painting ;  .  .  .  .  such 

as  oppressive  to  the  sight  as  cliffs  of  snow,  and  a  thought  as  this  is  something  far  above  all  art." 

the  Venus  de  Medicis  would  have  looked  like  —JOHN  RCSKIN,  Art  Professor :  Modern 

some  exquisitely  graceful  species  of  frog." —  Painters. 
Slade  Professor  JOHN  RUSKIN. 

REFLECTION; 

"  Be  not  righteous  overmuch,  neither  make 
thyself  overwise ;  why  shouldest  thou  destroy 
thyself!" 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  13 

ing  a  pot  of  paint  in  the  public's  face."  What  was  a 
coxcomb?  He  had  looked  the  word  up,  and  found 
that  it  came  from  the  old  idea  of  the  licensed  jester 
who  wore  a  cap  and  bells  with  a  cock's  comb  in  it,  who 
went  about  making  jests  for  the  amusement  of  his 
master  and  family.  If  that  were  the  true  definition, 
then  Mr.  Whistler  should  not  complain,  because  his 
pictures  had  afforded  a  most  amusing  jest !  He  did 
not  know  when  so  much  amusement  had  been  afforded  to 
•  ••itisespe-  the*  British  Public  as  by  Mr.  Whistler's  pictures.  He 

cially  to  be  re- 

drSgsofthis  had  now  finished.  Mr.  Ruskin  had  lived  a  long  life 
iHtifwS^mkde  wfth°ut  being  attacked,  and  no  one  had  attempted  to 
£iddhiesda«es,  ex-  control  his  pen  through  the  medium  of  a  jury.  Mr. 

clusively ;  and  even 

o0rdehreosfem?ddie  Ruskin  said,  through  him,  as  his  counsel,  that  he  did 
rateiySexnp7e*sed  not  retract  one  syllable  of  his  criticism,  believing  it 

by  the  term  '  bour-  J 

irunqu'JtloliK6  was  right.     Of  course,  if  they  found  a  verdict  against 
EllltSiSand  Mr-  Ruskin,  he  would  have  to  cease  writing,f  but  it  ^^Si 
fSiresthPeossib?e"de-    would  be  an  evil  day  for  Art,  in  this  country,  when  tnatFrng 

corations  for  a  e  ...        done  muc 

brefkfast'parlour,    ^-r-   Ruskin  would  be  prevented  from  indulging  in  ^ayd"-li 

opening  on  a  ,        .    .  ,  .    .    .  ,  .        .  ,       ,     RUSKIN,  Art 

nicely  mown  lawn."  legitimate  and  proper  criticism,  by  pointing  out  what  ~ 

Notes ons/°f r0ttt    was  beautiful  and  what  was  not.i  t  -Givethor- 

and  IV.  Hunt.  .  ough  examination 

Evidence   was   then   called   on   behalf  of  the  de- 


fendant.      Witnesses    for    the    defendant,    Messrs. 

then,  for  contrast 

Edward  Burne-Jones,  Frith,  and  Tom  Taylor.  SS«?Sdfe»i 

__  _  n      i  image  to  be  remem- 

Mr.  EDWARD  BURNE-JONES  called.  bered  of  sweet 

Italian  art  in  its 

Mr.  BOWEN,  by  way  of  presenting  him  properly  to  ^Be^cathe-* 

Ursula I  will  only  say  in  closing,  as  I  said  of  the  Vicar's  picture  in  be- 
ginning, that  it  would  be  well  if  any  of  us  could  do  such  things  nowadays ; — 
and  more  especially  if  our  vicars  and  young  ladies  could." — JOHN  RUSKIN, 
Prof,  of  Fine  Art:  Guide  to  Principal  Pictures,  Academy  of  Fine  Arts 
Venice. 


14  THE  GENTLE  ART 

the  consideration  of  the  Court,  proceeded  to  read  ex- 
tracts of  eulogistic  appreciation  of  this  artist  from  the 
defendant's  own  writings. 

The  examination  of  witness  then  commenced  ;  and 
*n  answer  to  Mr-  BOWEN,  Mr.  JONES  said  :  "I  am  a 
painter,  and  have  devoted  about  twenty  years  to  the 


study.     I  have  painted  various  works,  including  the 
produced  in       '    «  Days  of  Creation  '   and  'Venus's  Mirror,'  both  of 

England  which  will  » 

fiftufelv^iassiCh'e    which  were  exhibited  at  the  Grosvenor  Gallery  in 

in  its  kind—  the  best 

couid  bk^prot      r^77-     *  nave  a^so  exhibited   '  Deferentia,'  l  Fides,' 


'St.  George,'  and  'Sybil.'  I  have  one  work,  '  Merlin 
and  Vivian,'  now  being  exhibited  in  Paris.  In  my 
opinion  complete  finish  ought  to  be  the  object  of  all 
artists.  A  picture  ought  not  to  fall  short  of  what  has 
been  for  ages  considered  complete  finish. 

Mr.  BOWEN  :  "  Do  you  see  any  art  quality  in  that 
nocturne,  Mr.  Jones  ?  " 

Mr.  JONES  :  "  Yes  ....  I  must  speak  the  truth, 
you  know  "  .  .  .  .  (Emotion.) 

Mr.  BOWEN:!  .  .  "Yes.  Well,  Mr.  Jones,  what 
quality  do  you  see  in  it  ?  " 

Mr.  JONES  :  "  Colour.  It  has  fine  colour,  and 
atmosphere." 

Mr.  BOWEN  :  "  Ah.  Well,  do  you  consider  detail 
and  composition  essential  to  a  work  of  Art  ?  '' 

Mr.  JONES  :  "  Most  certainly  I  do." 


"The  action  of 
imagination  of  the 
highest  power  in 
Burne-Jones,  under 
the  conditions  of 
scholarship,  of  social 
beauty,  and  of  social 
distress,  which 
necessarily  aid, 
thwart,  and  colour  it 
in  the  nineteenth 
century,  are  alone 
in  art, — unrivalled 
in  their  kind ;  and  I 
know  that  these  will 
be  immortal,  as  the 
best  things  the 
mid-nineteenth 
century  in  England 
could  do,  in  such 
true  relations  as  it 
had,  through  all 
confusion,  retained 
with  the  paternal 
and  everlasting  Art 
of  the  world."— 
JOHN  RUSKIN, 
LL.D. :  Fors 
Cla-vigtra,  July  2, 
1877. 


t  "I  believe  the 
world  may  see 
another  Titian,  and 
another  Raffaelle, 
before  it  sees  an- 
other Rubens."— 
Mr.  RUSKIN. 


REFLECTION: 
*  There  is  a  cun- 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  15 

Mr.  BOWEN  :  "  Then  what  detail  and  composition  do 
you  find  in  this  nocturne  ?  " 

Mr.  JONES  :  "  Absolutely  none."  * 

Mr.  BOWEN  :  "  Do  you  think  two  hundred  guineas  j»n* 

,  c         ,1       ,        •    ,  n  j>  to  know.    On  the 

a  large  price  for  that  picture «  stock  Exchange 

this  insures  safe 

Mr.  JONES  :  "  Yes.  When  you  think  of  the  amount  S^5Sit£d« 

„  ....  „  this  would  induce 

of  earnest  work  done  tor  a  smaller  sum/  certain  picture- 

makers  to  cross  the 

Examination  continued:  "  Does  it  show  the  finish  boa\r,befo?en>ina 

negotiating  a 

of  a  complete  work  of  art  ?  "  *0mak™ureofder 

"  Not  in  any  sense  whatever.  The  picture  represent-  tK  honestfy  the  ' 

purchaser  might 

ing  a  night  scene  on  Battersea Bridge  is  good  in  colour,  ^^ hemSt°f 

.,,..«  ,     .,    ,  ...  have  been  tricked 

but  bewildering  in  form ;  and  it  has  no  composition 
and  detail.  A  day  or  a  day  and  a  half  seems  a  reason- 
able time  within  which  to  paint  it.  It  shows  no 
finish — it  is  simply  a  sketch.  The  nocturne  in  black 
and  gold  has  not  the  merit  of  the  other  two  pictures, 
and  it  would  be  impossible  to  call  it  a  serious  work  of 
art.  Mr.  Whistler's  picture  is  only  one  of  the 
thousand  failures  to  paint  night.  The  picture  is  not 
worth  two  hundred  guineas." 

Mr.  BOWEN  here  proposed  to  ask  the  witness  to  look 
at  a  picture  of  Titian, fin  order  to  show  what  finish  was.  J 

Mr.  SERJEANT  PARRY  objected. 


•The 


Butcher's  Dog,  in 
the  corner  of  Mr. 
Mulready's  '  Butt,' 
displays,  perhaps, 
TT  it  TT  -11    i  the  most  wonderful, 

Mr.  BARON  HUDDLESTON  :  "  You  will  have  to  prove  because  the  most 

dignified,  finish 
....  and  assuredly 
the  most  perfect 


that  it  is  a  Titian." 

Mr.  BOWEN  :  "  I  shall  be  able  to  do  that." 


;t  perfec 

unity  of  drawing 
and  colour  which 


the  entire  range  ot 
ancient  and  modern 

art  can  exhibit.  Albert  Durer  is,  indeed,  the  only 
rival  who  might  be  suggested."— JOHN  RUSKIN, 
Slade  Professor  of  Art :  Modern  Painters. 


1  6  THE  GENTLE  ART 

Mr.  BARON  HUDDLESTON  :  "  That  can  only  be  by  re- 
pute. I  do  not  want  to  raise  a  laugh,  but  there  is  a 
well-known  case  of  '  an  undoubted  '  Titian  being 
purchased  with  a  view  to  enabling  students  and  others 
to  find  out  how  to  produce  his  wonderful  colours. 
With  that  object  the  picture  was  rubbed  down,  and 
they  found  a  red  surface,  beneath  which  they  thought 
was  the  secret,  but  on  continuing  the  rubbing  they 
discovered  a  full-length  portrait  of  George  III.  in 
uniform  !  " 

The  witness  was  then  asked  to  look  at  the  picture, 
and  he  said  :  "  It  is  a  portrait  of  Doge  Andrea  Gritti, 
and  I  believe  it  is  a  real  Titian.  It  shows  finish.  It 
is  a  very  perfect  sample  of  the  highest  finish  of 
ancient  art.*  The  flesh  is  perfect,  the  modelling  of  «...  »i  fed  en- 

titled to  point  out 

the  face  is  round  and    good.     That  is  an  '  arrange-  T^ar^oducedTn 

..        n       i  ill         i  i  >  »  the  case  of  Whistler 

ment  in  flesh  and  blood  !  v.  Ruskin,  is  an 

early  specimen  of 

The  witness  having  pointed  out  the  excellences  of  dhoaes^otstreerprae"e\it 
that  portrait,  said  :  "  I  think  Mr.  Whistler  had  great  ^l^ave  obtained 
powers  at  first,  which  he  has  not  since  justified.     He  p^taSon-oSe^b-1*" 

vious  point  of  differ- 

has   evaded    the   difficulties   of   his  art,  because  the 


ture  work  being  the 

r  amount 

Idonot 


j'_Q5        i.j_          /?  j.'    A.  J  ft'  ture  work 

difficulty  of  an  artist  increases  every  day  or  his  pro-  far  greate 

J  J  J  r  offinish- 

fncairmnl   Hfo  "  say  completeness— 

I  eSSlOnai  llie  .  exhibited  in  it  .  .  and 

Cross-examined  :  "  What  is  the  value  of  this  picture  ^ 
of  Titian  ?  "—  "  That  is  a  mere  accident  of  the  sale- 


work  of  the  greatest 
painter,  and  more 
Specially  as  to  the 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  17 

"  Is  it  worth  one  thousand  guineas  ?  "  —  "It  would 

.,  ,  ,      .  .,  evident  that  it  was 

be  worth  many  thousands  to  me.  calculated  to  pro- 

duce an  erroneous 

impression  on  their  minds,  if  indeed  any  one  present  at  the  inquiry  can  hold 
that  those  gentlemen  were  in  any  way  fitted  to  understand  the  issues  raised 
therein.—  I  am,  Sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

"A.MOORE. 
"Nov.  28." 

Extract  of  a  letter  to  the  Editor  of  the  Echo. 

Mr.  FRITH  was  then  examined  ;  "  I  am  an  R.A.  ; 
and  have  devoted  my  life  to  painting.  I  am  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Academies  of  various  countries.  I  am  the 
author  of  the  '  Railway  Station/  *  Derby  Day,'  and 
'  Rake's  Progress.'  I  have  seen  Mr.  Whistler's  pic- 
tures, and  in  my  opinion  they  are  not  serious  works 
of  art.  The  nocturne  in  black  and  gold  is  not  a 
serious  work  to  me.  I  cannot  see  anything  of  the 
REFLECTION.-  true  representation  of  water  and  atmosphere  in  the 
painting  of  '  Battersea  Bridge.'  There  is  a  pretty 
colour  which  pleases  the  eye,  but  there  is  nothing 
more.  To  my  thinking,  the  description  of  moonlight 
is  not  true.  The  picture  is  not  worth  two  hundred 
guineas.  Composition  and  detail  are  most  important 
matters  in  a  picture.  In  our  profession  men  of  equal 
merit  differ  as  to  the  character  of  a  picture.  One 
may  blame,  while  another  praises,  a  work.  I  have 
not  exhibited  at  the  Grosvenor  Gallery.  I  have  read 


came  an  Artist    r 


tossed  UP. 


Mr.  Ruskin's  works." 
Mr.  Frith  here  got  down. 


REFLECTION.- 
he^e«g  S*>en.est  man~J  have  not 


18  THE  GENTLE  ART 

Mr.  TOM  TAYLOR — Poor  Law  Commissioner,  Editor  of 
Punch,  and  so  forth — and  so  forth  :  "  I  am  an  art  critic 
of  long  standing.  I  have  been  engaged  in  this  capacity 
by  the  Times,  and  other  journals,  for  the  last  twenty 
years.  I  edited  the  '  Life  of  Reynolds,'  and  '  Haydon.' 
I  have  always  studied  art.  I  have  seen  these  pictures 
of  Mr.  Whistler's  when  they  were  exhibited  at  the 
Dudley  and  the  Grosvenor  Galleries.  The  '  Nocturne ' 
in  black  and  gold  I  do  not  think  a  serious  work  of  art." 
The  witness  here  took  from  the  pockets  of  his  overcoat 
copies  of  the  Times,  and,  with  the  permission  of  the 
Court,  read  again  with  unction  his  own  criticism,  to 
every  word  of  which  he  said  he  still  adhered.  "  All 
Mr.  Whistler's  work  is  unfinished.  It  is  sketchy. 
He,  no  doubt,  possesses  artistic  qualities,  and  he  has 
got  appreciation  of  qualities  of  tone,  but  he  is  not  com- 
plete, and  all  his  works  are  in  the  nature  of  sketching.  To  perceive  in 

T  i  i  t         «n        IT  i  •     •  ji  Ruskin's  army 

I  have  expressed,  and  still  adhere  to  the  opinion,  that  Tom  Taylor,  his 

*  *  champion— whose 

these  pictures  only  come  *  one    step  nearer  pictures  ^Frit^S?^ 

—was  gratifying. 

than  a  delicately  tinted  wall-paper.'"  KfeSS?* 

Jones,  in  common 

cause  with  Tom  Taylor — whom  he  esteems,  and  Mr.  Frith — whom  he  respects 
—conscientiously  appraising  the  work  of  a  confrere— was  a  privilege !  I 

This  ended  the  case  for  the  defendant. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  19 


Verdict  for  plaintiff.  Damages  one  farthing. 


20      THE  GENTLE  ART  OF  MAKING  ENEMIES 


Professor  Ruskins  Group 


dear    Sambourne, — I  know   I   shall  be  only 
charmed,  as  I  always  am,  by  your  work,    and  if    I 
am  myself   its   subject,  I  shall  only  be  flattered  in 
addition. 
The  won*.         Punch  in  person  sat  upon  me  in  the  box ;  why  should  A  pleasant  *™m 

Dec  ii,  1878.  ?f  the  situation— 

not  the  most  subtle  of  his  staff  have  a  shot  ?     More-  SkJffi?e¥r' 
over,  whatever  delicacy  and  refinement  Tom  Taylor  that  his  historical 

•  J  cartoon  in  Punch 

may  still  have  left  in  his  pocket  (from  which,  in  Court,  m 
he  drew  his  ammunition)  I  doubt  not  he  will  urge  you 
to  use,  that  it  may  not  be  wasted.     Meanwhile  you 
must  not  throw  away  sentiment  upon  what  you  call 
"  this  trying  time." 

To  have  brought  about  an  "  Arrangement  in  Frith, 
Jones,  Punch  and  Ruskin,  with  a  touch  of  Titian,"  is 
a  joy  !  and  in  itself  sufficient  to  satisfy  even  my  crav- 
ing for  curious  "  combinations." — Ever  yours, 


Whistler  v.  Ruskin 

ART  &  ART  CRITICS 


Chelsea,  Dec.  1878 


Dedicated  to 

ALBERT  MOORE 


THE  GENTLE  ART  OF  MAKING  ENEMIES      25 


Whistler  v.  Ruskin :  Art  and  Art  Critics 


fin  mot  and  spirit  of  this  matter  seems  to 
have  been  utterly  missed,  or  perhaps  willingly  winked 
at,  by  the  journals  in  their  comments.  Their  corre- 
spondents have  persistently,  and  not  unnaturally  as 
writers,  seen  nothing  beyond  the  immediate  case  in 
law — viz.,  the  difference  between  Mr.  Kuskin  and 
myself,  culminating  in  the  libel  with  a  verdict  for  the 
plaintiff. 

Now  the  war,  of  which  the  opening  skirmish  was 
fought  the  other  day  in  Westminster,  is  really  one 
between  the  brush  and  the  pen  ;  and  involves  literally, 
as  the  Attorney-General  himself  hinted,  the  absolute 
"  raison  d'etre  "  of  the  critic.  The  cry,  on  their  part, 
of  "  II  faut  vivre,"  I  most  certainly  meet,  in  this 
case,  with  the  appropriate  answer,  "  Je  n'en  vois  pas 
la  necessite." 

Far  from  me,  at  that  stage  of  things,  to  go  further 
into  this  discussion  than  I  did,  when,  cross-examined 


26  THE  GENTLE  ART 

by  Sir  John  Holker,  I  contented  myself  with  the 
general  answer,  "  that  one  might  admit  criticism  when 
emanating  from  a  man  who  had  passed  his  whole  life 
in  the  science  which  he  attacks."  The  position  of 
Mr.  Ruskin  as  an  art  authority  we  left  quite  uii- 
assailed  during  the  trial.  To  have  said  that  Mr. 
Ruskin's  prose  among  intelligent  men,  as  other  than  a 
litterateur,  is  false  and  ridiculous,  would  have  been 
an  invitation  to  the  stake ;  and  to  be  burnt  alive,  or 
stoned  before  the  verdict,  was  not  what  I  came  into 
court  for. 

Over  and  over  again  did  the  Attorney-General  cry 
out  aloud,  in  the  agony  of  his  cause,  "  What  is  to 
become  of  painting  if  the  critics  withhold  their  lash?" 
As  well  might  he  ask  what  is  to  become  of  mathe- 
matics under  similar  circumstances,  were  they  possible. 
I  maintain  that  two  and  two  the  mathematician 
would  continue  to  make  four,  in  spite  of  the  whine  of 
the  amateur  for  three,  or  the  cry  of  the  critic  for 
five.  We  are  told  that  Mr.  Ruskin  has  devoted  his 
long  life  to  art,  and  as  a  result — is  "  Slade  Professor  " 
at  Oxford.  In  the  same  sentence,  we  have  thus  his 
position  and  its  worth.  It  suffices  not,  Messieurs  (  a 
life  passed  among  pictures  makes  not  a  painter — 
else  the  policeman  in  the  National  Gallery  might 
assert  himself.  }  As  well  allege  that  he  who  lives  in  a 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  27 

1  library  must  needs  die  a  poet.  Let  not  Mr.  Ruskin 
flatter  himself  that  more  education  makes  the  differ- 
ence between  himself  and  the  policeman  when  both 
stand  gazing  in  the  Gallery. 

There  they  might  remain  till  the  end  of  time ;  the 
one  decently  silent,  the  other  saying,  in  good  English, 
many  high-sounding  empty  things,  like  the  cracking 
of  thorns  under  a  pot — undismayed  by  the  presence 
of  the  Masters  with  whose  names  he  is  sacrilegiously 
familiar ;  whose  intentions  he  interprets,  whose  vices 
he  discovers  with  the  facility  of  the  incapable,  and 
whose  virtues  he  descants  upon  with  a  verbosity  and 
flow  of  language  that  would,  could  he  hear  it,  give 
Titian  the  same  shock  of  surprise  that  was  Balaam's, 
when  the  first  great  critic  proffered  his  opinion. 

This  one  instance  apart,  where  collapse  was  im- 
mediate, the  creature  Critic  is  of  comparatively  modern 
growth — and  certainly,  in  perfect  condition,  of  recent 
date.  To  his  completeness  go  qualities  evolved  from 
the  latest  lightnesses  of  to-day — indeed,  thejine  fleur 
of  his  type  is  brought  forth  in  Paris,  and  beside  him 
the  Englishman  is  but  rough-hewn  and  blundering 
after  all ;  though  not  unkindly  should  one  say  it, 
as  reproaching  him  with  inferiority  resulting  from 
chances  neglected. 

The  truth    is,  as  compared  with    his  brother  of 


28  THE  GENTLE  ART 

the  Boulevards,  the  Briton  was  badly  begun  by 
nature. 

To  take  himself  seriously  is  the  fate  of  the  humbug 
at  home,  and  destruction  to  the  jaunty  career  of  the 
art  critic,  whose  essence  of  success  lies  in  his  strong 
sense  of  his  ephemeral  existence,  and  his  consequent 
horror  of  ennuyering  his  world — in  short,  to  per- 
ceive the  joke  of  life  is  rarely  given  to  our  people, 
whilst  it  forms  the  mainspring  of  the  Parisian's 
savoir  plaire.  The  finesse  of  the  Frenchman,  ac- 
quired in  long  loafing  and  clever  cafe  cackle — the  glib 
go  and  easy  assurance  of  the  petit  creve,  combined 
with  the  chic  of  great  habit — the  brilliant  blague 
of  the  ateliers — the  aptitude  of  their  argot — the 
fling  of  the  Figaro,  and  the  knack  of  short  para- 
graphs, which  allows  him  to  print  of  a  picture  "  C'est 
bien  ecrit !  "  and  of  a  subject, "  C'est  bien  dit !  " — these 
are  elements  of  an  ensemble  impossible  in  this  island. 

Still,  we  are  "  various  "  in  our  specimens,  and  a 
sense  of  progress  is  noticeable  when  we  look  about 
among  them. 

Indications  of  their  period  are  perceptible,  and 
curiously  enough  a  similarity  is  suggested,  by  their 
work,  between  themselves  and  the  vehicles  we  might 
fancy  carrying  them  about  to  their  livelihood. 

Tough  old  Tom,  the  busy  City  'Bus,  with  its  heavy 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  29 

jolting  and  many  halts ;  its  steady,  sturdy,  stodgy 
continuance  on  the  same  old  much-worn  way,  every 
turning  known,  and  freshness  unhoped  for ;  its 
patient  dreary  dulness  of  daily  duty  to  its  cheap 
company — struggling  on  to  its  end,  nevertheless,  and 
pulling  up  at  the  Bank !  with  a  flourish  from  the 
driver,  and  a  joke  from  the  cad  at  the  door. 

Then  the  contributors  to  the  daily  papers  :  so  many 
hansoms  bowling  along  that  the  moment  may  not  be 
lost,  and  the  ct  propos  gone  for  ever.  The  one  or  two 
broughams  solemnly  rolling  for  reviews,  while  the 
lighter  bicycle  zigzags  irresponsibly  in  among  them 
for  the  happy  Halfpennies. 

"What  a  commerce  it  all  is,  to  be  sure  ! 

No  sham  in  it  either  ! — no  "  bigod  nonsense !  "  they 
are  all  "  doing  good  " — yes,  they  all  do  good  to  Art. 
Poor  Art !  what  a  sad  state  the  slut  is  in,  an  these 
gentlemen  shall  help  her.  The  artist  alone,  by  the 
way,  is  to  no  purpose,  and  remains  unconsulted  ;  his 
work  is  explained  and  rectified  without  him,  by  the 
one  who  was  never  in  it — but  upon  whom  God,  always 
good,  though  sometimes  careless,  has  thrown  away 
the  knowledge  refused  to  the  author — poor  devil ! 

The  Attorney-General  said,  "  There  are  some  people 
who  would  do  away  with  critics  altogether." 

I  agree  with  him,  and  am  of   the  irrationals  he 


3o  THE  GENTLE  ART 

points  at — but  let  me  be  clearly  understood — the 
art  critic  alone  would  I  extinguish.  That  writers 
should  destroy  writings  to  the  benefit  of  writing 
is  reasonable.  Who  but  they  shall  insist  upon 
beauties  of  literature,  and  discard  the  demerits  of 
their  brother  litterateurs?  In  their  turn  they  will 
be  destroyed  by  other  writers,  and  the  merry  game 
goes  on  till  truth  prevail.  Shall  the  painter  then — I 
foresee  the  question — decide  upon  painting?  Shall 
he  be  the  critic  and  sole  authority  ?  Aggressive  as 
is  this  supposition,  I  fear  that,  in  the  length  of  time, 
his  assertion  alone  has  established  what  even  the 
gentlemen  of  the  quill  accept  as  the  canons  of  art, 
and  recognise  as  the  masterpieces  of  work. 

Let  work,  then,  be  received  in  silence,  as  it  was  in 
the  days  to  which  the  penmen  still  point  as  an  era 
when  art  was  at  its  apogee.  And  here  we  come  upon 
the  oft-repeated  apology  of  the  critic  for  existing  at 
all,  and  find  how  complete  is  his  stultification.  He 
brands  himself  as  the  necessary  blister  for  the  health 
of  the  painter,  and  writes  that  he  may  do  good  to  his 
art.  In  the  same  ink  he  bemoans  the  decadence 
about  him,  and  declares  that  the  best  work  was  done 
when  he  was  not  there  to  help  it.  No !  let  there  be 
no  critics !  they  are  not  a  "  necessary  evil,"  but  an 
evil  quite  unnecessary,  though  an  evil  certainly. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  31 

Harm  they  do,  and  not  good. 

Furnished  as  they  are  with  the  means  of  furthering 
their  foolishness,  they  spread  prejudice  abroad ;  and 
through  the  papers,  at  their  service,  thousands  are 
warned  against  the  work  they  have  yet  to  look 
upon. 

And  here  one  is  tempted  to  go  further,  and  show 
the  crass  idiocy  and  impertinence  of  those  whose 
dicta  are  printed  as  law. 

How  he  of  the  Times*  has  found  Velasquez  *  June  6,1874. 
"  slovenly  in  execution,  poor  in  colour — being  little 
but  a  combination  of  neutral  greys  and  ugly  in 
its  forms" — how  he  grovelled  in  happiness  over  a 
Turner — that  was  no  Turner  at  all,  as  Mr.  Ruskin 
wrote  to  show — Ruskin !  whom  he  has  since  de- 
fended. Ah !  Messieurs,  what  our  neighbours  call 
"  la  malice  des  choses  "  was  unthought  of,  and  the 
sarcasm  of  fate  was  against  you.  How  Gerard  Dow's 
broom  was  an  example  for  the  young ;  and  Canaletti 
and  Paul  Veronese  are  to  be  swept  aside — doubtless 
with  it.  How  Rembrandt  is  coarse,  and  Carlo  Dolci 
noble — with  more  of  this  kind.  But  what  does  it 
matter? 

"  What  does  anything  matter  !  "     The  farce  will  go 
on,  and  its  solemnity  adds  to  the  fun. 

Mediocrity  flattered  at  acknowledging  mediocrity, 


32  THE  GENTLE  ART 

and  mistaking  mystification  for  mastery,  enters  the 
fog  of  dilettantism,  and,  graduating  connoisseur, 
ends  its  days  in  a  bewilderment  of  bric-a-brac  and 
Brummagem ! 

"  Taste "  has  long  been  confounded  with  capacity, 
and  accepted  as  sufficient  qualification  for  the  utter- 
ance of  judgment  in  music,  poetry,  and  painting. 
Art  is  joyously  received  as  a  matter  of  opinion ; 
and  that  it  should  be  based  upon  laws  as  rigid  and 
defined  as  those  of  the  known  sciences,  is  a  supposi- 
tion no  longer  to  be  tolerated  by  modern  cultivation. 
For  whereas  no  polished  member  of  society  is  at 
all  affected  at  admitting  himself  neither  engineer, 
mathematician,  nor  astronomer,  and  therefore  remains 
willingly  discreet  and  taciturn  upon  these  subjects, 
still  would  he  be  highly  offended  were  he  supposed  to 
have  no  voice  in  what  is  clearly  to  him  a  matter  of 
"  Taste";  and  so  he  becomes  of  necessity  the  backer 
of  the  critic — the  cause  and  result  of  his  own  ignor- 
ance and  vanity !  The  fascination  of  this  pose  is  too 
much  for  him,  and  he  hails  with  delight  its  justifica- 
tion. Modesty  and  good  sense  are  revolted  at  nothing, 
and  the  millennium  of  "  Taste  "  sets  in. 

The  whole  scheme  is  simple :  the  galleries  are  to  be 
thrown  open  on  Sundays,  and  the  public,  dragged 
from  their  beer  to  the  British  Museum,  are  to  delight 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  33. 

in  the  Elgin  Marbles,  and  appreciate  what  the  early 

Italians  have  done  to  elevate  their  thirsty  souls !    An 

/"Tt/J    c; 
inroad  into  the  laboratory  would  be  looked  upon  as 

an  intrusion ;  but  before  the  triumphs  of  Art,  the 
expounder  is  at  his  ease,  and  points  out  the  doctrine  "%*C  ^  •% 
that  Raphael's  results  are  within  the  reach  of  any 
beholder,  provided  he  enrol  himself  with  Ruskin  or 
hearken  to  Golvin  in  the  provinces.  The  people  are 
to  be  educated  upon  the  broad  basis  of  "  Taste," 
forsooth,  and  it  matters  but  little  what  "  gentleman 
and  scholar  "  undertake  the  task. 

Eloquence  alone  shall  guide  them — and  the  readiest 
writer  or  wordiest  talker  is  perforce  their  professor. 

The  Observatory  at  Greenwich  under  the  direction 
of  an  Apothecary  !  The  College  of  Physicians  with 
Tennyson  as  President !  and  we  know  that  madness 
is  about.  But  a  school  of  art  with  an  accomplished 
litterateur  at  its  head  disturbs  no  one  !  and  is  actually 
what  the  world  receives  as  rational,  while  Ruskin  writes 
for  pupils,  and  Colvin  holds  forth  at  Cambridge. 

Still,  quite  alone  stands  Ruskin,  whose  writing  is 
art,  and  whose  art  is  unworthy  his  writing.  To  him 
and  his  example  do  we  owe  the  outrage  of  proffered 
assistance  from  the  unscientific — the  meddling  of  the 
immodest — the  intrusion  of  the  garrulous.  Art,  that 
for  ages  has  hewn  its  own  history  in  marble,  and 

c 


34  THE  GENTLE  ART 

written  its  own  comments  on  canvas,  shall  it  suddenly 
stand  still,  and  stammer,  and  wait  for  wisdom  from 
the  passer-by? — for  guidance  from  the  hand  that 
holds  neither  brush  nor  chisel  ?  Out  upon  the  shallow 
conceit !  What  greater  sarcasm  can  Mr.  Ruskin  pass 
upon  himself  than  that  he  preaches  to  young  men 
what  he  cannot  perform !  Why,  unsatisfied  with  his 
own  conscious  power,  should  he  choose  to  become  the 
type  of  incompetence  by  talking  for  forty  years  of 
what  he  has  never  done ! 

Let  him  resign  his  present  professorship,  to  fill 
the  chair  of  Ethics  at  the  university.  As  master  of 
English  literature,  he  has  a  right  to  his  laurels, 
while,  as  the  populariser  of  pictures  he  remains  the 
Peter  Parley  of  painting. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  35 


ti<m 

Art 


The  Art  Critic  of  the  "  Times " 


"  Cj  ANS  rancune,"  by  all  means,  my  dear  Whistler  ; 
but  you  should  not  have  quoted  from  my  article,  of 
June  6th.  1874,  on  Velasquez,  in  such  a  way  as  to  Mr.  Tom  Taylor's 

J  acknowledgment 

give  exactly  the  opposite  impression  to  that  which  the  SK*  Mr 

WMstler's  " 

article,  taken  as  a  whole,  conveys. 

I  appreciate  and  admire  Velasquez  as  entirely,  and  upon 

tne  a 

allow  me  to  say,  as  intelligently,  as  yourself.     I  have 

probably  seen  and  studied  more  of  his  work  than  you 

have.      And   I  maintain  that  the    article  you  have 

The  world      garbled  in  your  quotation  gives  a  fair  and  adequate 

Jan*  15*  1879- 

account  of  the  picture  it  deals  with  —  "  Las  Meninas  " 
—  and  one  which  any  artist  who  knows  the  picture 
would,  in  essentials,  subscribe  to. 

God  help  the  artists  if  ever  the  criticism  of  pictures 
falls  into  the  hands  of  painters  !  It  would  be  a  case 
of  vivisection  all  round. 

Your  pamphlet  is  a  very  natural  result  of  your  late 


36  THE  GENTLE  ART 

disagreeable  legal  experiences,  though  not  a  very  wise 

one. 

If  the  critics  are  not  better  qualified  to  deal  with 
the  painters  than  the  painter  in  your  pamphlet  shows 
himself  qualified  to  deal  with  the  critics,  it  will  be  a 
bad  day  for  art  when  the  hands  that  have  been  trained 
to  the  brush  lay  it  aside  for  the  pen.* 

If  you  had  read  my  article  on  Velasquez,  I  cannot 
but  say  that  you  have  made  an  unfair  use  of  it,  in 
quoting  a  detached  sentence,  which,  read  with  the 
context,  bears  exactly  the  opposite  sense  from  that 
you  have  quoted  it  as  bearing. 

This  is  a  bad  "throw-off'"  in  the  critical  line; 
whether  it  affect  "le  premier  litterateur  venu"  or 
yours  always, 

TOM  TAYLOR. 

P.S. — As  your  attack  on  my  article  is  public,  I 
reserve  to  myself  the  right  of  giving  equal  publicity  to 
this  letter. 

LAVENDER  SWEEP, 
Jan.  6,  1879. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  37 


The  Position 


J)EAD  for  a  ducat,  dead !  my  dear  Tom :  and  the 
rattle  has  reached  me  by  posb. 

"  Sans  rancune"  say  you  ?  Bah  !  you  scream  unkind 

Jan.  15,1879. 

threats  and  die  badly. 

"Why  squabble  over  your  little  article  ?  You  did 
print  what  I  quote,  you  know,  Tom ;  and  it  is  surely 
unimportant  what  more  you  may  have  written  of 
the  Master.  That  you  should  have  written  anything 
at  all  is  your  crime. 

No  ;  shrive  your  naughty  soul,  and  give  up  Velas- 
quez, and  pass  your  last  days  properly  in  the  Home 
Office. 

Set  your  house  in  order  with  the  Government  for 
arrears  of  time  and  paper,  and  leave  vengeance  to  the 
Lord,  who  will  forgive  my  "  garbling  "  Tom  Taylor's 
writing. 

THE  WHITE  HOUSE, 
Jan.  8,  1879. 


38  THE  GENTLE  ART 


Serious  Sarcasm 


pARDON  me,  my  dear  Whistler,  for  having  taken 
you  au  serieux  even  for  a  moment. 

I  ought  to  have  remembered  that  your  penning, 
like  your  painting,  belongs  to  the  region  of  "  chaff." 
I  will  not  forget  it  again  ,  and  meantime  remain  yours 
always, 

TOM  TAYLOR. 
LAVENDER  SWEEP, 
Jan.  9, 1879. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES 


Final 


AA/'HY,  my  dear  old  Tom,  I  never  was  serious  with 
you,  even  when  you  were  among  us.  Indeed,  I  killed 
you  quite,  as  who  should  say,  without  seriousness,  "  A 
rat !  A  rat !  "  you  know,  rather  cursorily. 

Chaff,  Tom,  as  in  your  present  state  you  are  begin- 
ning to  perceive,  was  your  fate  here,  and  doubtless 
wil1  be  throughout  the  eternity  before  you.  With 
ages  at  your  disposal,  this  truth  will  dimly  dawn 
upon  you ;  and  as  you  look  back  upon  this  life,  per- 
chance many  situations  that  you  took  au  serieux 
(art-critic,  who  knows  ?  expounder  of  Velasquez,  and 
what  not)  will  explain  themselves  sadly — chaff !  Go* 
back! 


THE  WHITE  HOUSE, 
Jan.  10,  1879. 


THE  GENTLE  ART  OF  MAKING  ENEMIES     41 


"Balaams  Ass" 


]V[R.  WHISTLER  has  written  a  discord  in  black 
and  white.  It  is  a  strong  saying,  excellent  in  diction, 
broadly  and  boldly  set  down  in  slashing  words 

The  point  Mr.  Whistler  raises  and  enforces  is 
that  criticism  of  painting  other  than  by  painters  is 

monstrous,  and  not  to  be  tolerated Mr.  Rus- 

kin's  "  high  sounding  empty  things  "  would,  he  says, 
"give  Titian  the  same  shock  of  surprise  that  was 
Balaam's  when  the  first  great  critic  proffered  his 
opinion."  ....  The  inference  ....  is  that  all  the 
world,  competent  and  incompetent  together,  must  re- 
ceive the  painter's  work  in  silence,  under  pain  of 
being  classed  with  Balaam's  ass 

If,  finding  himself  ill  received  or  ill  understood,  he 
has  to  say,  "  You  cannot  understand  me,"  he  must  also 
say,  "  I  did  not  understand  myself  and  you,  to  whom 
I  speak,  sufficiently  well  to  make  you  understand  me." 

There  could  be  no  better  illustration  of  all  this  than 


42  THE  GENTLE  ART 

that  Mr.  Whistler  has  suggested  of  Balaam's  ass.  For 
the  Ass  was  right,  although,  nay,  because  he  was  an 
ass.  "  What  have  I  done  unto  thee,"  said  he,  "  that 
thou  hast  smitten  me  these  three  times  ?  "  "  Because 
thou  hast  mocked  me,"  replies  Balaam — Whistler  ; 
whereupon  the  Angel  of  the  Lord  rebukes  him  and 
says,  "  The  ass  saw  me"  so  that  Balaam  is  constrained 
to  bow  his  head  and  fall  flat  on  his  face.  And  thus 
indeed  it  is.  The  ass  sees  the  Angel  of  the  Lord 
there  where  the  wise  prophet  sees  nothing,  and,  by 
her  seeing,  saves  the  life  of  the  very  master  who, 
for  reward,  smites  her  grievously  and  wishes  he  had 
a  sword  that  he  might  kill  her. 

Let  Balaam  not  forget  that  after  all  he  rides  upon 
the  ass,  that  she  has  served  him  well  ever  since  she 
was  his  until  this  day,  and  that  even  now  he  is  on  his 
way  with  her  to  be  promoted  unto  very  great  honour 
by  the  Princes  of  Balak.  And  let  him  remember  that 
whatever  can  speak  may  at  any  moment  have  a  word 
to  say  to  him  which  it  were  best  he  should  hear. 

RASPER. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  43 


The  Point  acknowledged 

it  !  my  dear  Vanity,  and  I  find,  on  searching 


vanity  Fair,     again,  that  historically  you  are  right. 

Jan.  18,  t879.  ° 

The  fact,  doubtless,  explains  the  conviction  or  the 
race  in  their  mission,  but  I  fancy  you  will  admit  that 
this  is  the  only  Ass  on  record  who  ever  did  "  see  the 
Angel  of  the  Lord  !  "  and  that  we  are  past  the  age  of 
miracles. 

Yours  always, 

1 
THE  WHITE  HOUSE, 

Jan.  ii,  1879. 


44  THE  GENTLE  ART 


Critic  s  Analysis 


JN  the  "  Symphony  in  White  No.  III."  by  Mr.  Whist- 
ler there  are  many  dainty  varieties  of  tint,  but  it  is 
not  precisely  a  symphony  in  white.  One  lady  has  a 
yellowish  dress  and  brown  hair  and  a  bit  of  blue  ribbon, 
the  other  has  a  red  fan,  and  there  are  flowers  and 
green  leaves.  There  is  a  girl  in  white  on  a  white 
sofa,  but  even  this  girl  has  reddish  hair ;  and  of  course 
there  is  the  flesh  colour  of  the  complexions. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  45 


The  Critic  s  Mind  Considered 

J-JOW  pleasing  that  such  profound  prattle  should 
inevitably  find  its  place  in  print !  "  Not  precisely  a 
symphony  in  white  ....  for  there  is  a  yellowish  dress 
....  brown  hair,  etc another  with  reddish  hair 

.  .  .  and  of  course  there  is  the  flesh  colour  of  the  com- 
plexions." 

Bon  Dieu  I  did  this  wise  person  expect  white  hair 
and  chalked  faces  ?  And  does  he  then,  in  his  astounding 
consequence,  believe  that  a  symphony  in  F  contains 
no  other  note,  but  shall  be  a  continued  repetition  of 
F,F,  F?  ....  Fool! 

CHELSEA, 
June  1867. 


46  THE  GENTLE  ART 


A   Troubled  One 


"  Season  Number  "  of  Vanity  Fair  contains  .  .  . 
Mr.  Whistler's  etching  of  "St.  James's   Street"  is 

Julys.  1878.  -M        ...  .     .. 

sadly  disappointing. 


Full  Absolution 


J)EAR  World, — Atlas,  overburdened  with  the  world 
and  its  sins,  may  well  be  relieved  from  the  weight 
of  one  wee  error — a  sort  of  last  straw  that  bothers  The  wort*. 

July  10,  1878. 

his  back.  The  impression  in  Vanity  Fair  that 
disappoints  him  is  not  an  etching  at  all,  but  a  re- 
production for  that  paper  by  some  transfer  process. 

Atlas  has  the  wisdom  of  ages,  and  need  not  grieve 
himself  with  mere  matters  of  art.  "  II  n'est  pas 
necessaire  que  vous  sachiez  ces  choses-la,  mon  reverend 
pere ! " 


CHELSEA. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  47 


"Confidences''1  with  an  Editor 


TO  THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  "HOUR" 

gIR, — I  have  read  the  intelligent  remarks  of  your 
critic  upon  my  pictures,  and  am  happy  to  be  able  to 
remove,  I  think,  the  "  melancholy  "  impression  left 
upon  his  mind  by  the  supposition  that  "the  best 
works  are  not  of  recent  date."  Permit  me  to  reassure 
him,  for  the  paintings  he  speaks  of  in  glowing  terms 
— notably  "  the  full-length  portrait  of  a  young  girl," 
which  he  overwhelms  me  by  comparing  to  Velasquez, 
as  well  as  the  two  life-size  portraits  in  black,  "  in 
which  there  is  an  almost  entire  negation  of  colour " 
(though  I,  who  am,  he  says,  a  colourist,  did  not  know 
it) — are  my  latest  works,  and  but  just  completed. 

May  I  still  further  correct  a  misconception  ?  The 
etchings  and  dry-points  in  the  gallery  do  not  form  a 
complete  set.  There  are  only  fifty  exhibited,  making 
about  half  the  number  I  have  executed. 

Again,  it  was  from  no  feeling  that  "  my  works  were 


48      THE  GENTLE  ART  OF  MAKING  ENEMIES 

not  seen  to  advantage  when  placed  in  juxtaposition 
with  those  of  an  essentially  different  kind,"  that  I 
"  determined  to  have  an  exhibition  of  my  own,  where 
discordant  elements  should  distract  the  spectator's 
attention."  It  is  true  that  occasionally  it  has  been 
borne  in  upon  my  mind  that  those  whose  "  works  are 
of  an  essentially  different  kind  "  are  unwilling  to  place 
mine  in  juxtaposition  with  their  own. 

My  wish  has  been,  though,  to  prove  that  the  place 
in  which  works  of  art  are  shown  may  be  made  as  free 
from  "  discordant  elements  which  distract  the  specta- 
tors' attention  "  as  the  works  themselves. 

Marvelling  greatly  that  the  "  principle  "  that  has  led 
me  (in  his  eyes  at  least)  to  paint  so  that  he  speaks  of 
me  in  the  same  breath  with  Velasquez,  should  be 
"  founded  on  fallacy," — I  remain,  sir,  your  obedient 
servant, 


June  10,  1874. 


[Critics  "Cojy" 
D 


SO  THE  GENTLE  ART 


Critics  "Copy" 


the  Gallery  of  the  Fine  Art  Society  in  New  Bond 
TJU  world.  Street,  an  exhibition  has  been  opened  of  the  etchings 
of  Venice,  executed  by  Mr.  Whistler.  Exhibitions 
are  sometimes  of  slender  constitution  nowadays.  Mr. 
Whistler's  etchings  are  twelve  in  number,  of  unim- 
portant dimensions,  and  of  the  slightest  workmanship. 
They  convey  a  certain  sense  of  distance  and  atmo- 
sphere, otherwise  it  cannot  be  said  that  they  are  of 
particular  value  or  originality.  They  rather  resemble 
vague  first  intentions,  or  memoranda  for  future  use, 
than  designs  completely  carried  out.  Probably  every 
artist  coming  from  Venice  brings  with  him  some  such 
outlines  as  these  in  his  sketch-books.  Apparently, 
so  far  as  his  twelve  etchings  are  to  be  considered 
as  evidence  in  the  matter,  Venice  has  not  deeply 
stirred  either  Mr.  Whistler  or  his  art. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  51 


A  Proposal 


mon  bon,  mefiez-vous  de  vos  gens  I  Your 
art  gentleman  says  that  Mr.  "Whistler  exhibits  twelve 
etchings,  "  slight  in  execution  and  unimportant  in  S£ 
size."  Now  the  private  assassin  you  keep,  for  us, 
need  not  be  hampered  by  mere  connoisseurship  in  the 
perpetration  of  his  duty — therefore,  passe,  for  the 
execution — but  he  should  not  compromise  his  master's 
reputation  for  brilliancy,  and  print  things  that  he 
who  runs  may  scoff  at. 

Seriously,  then,  my  Atlas,  an  etching  does  not 
depend,  for  its  importance,  upon  its  size.  "  I  am  not 
arguing  with  you — I  am  telling  you."  As  well  speak 
of  one  of  your  own  charming  mots  as  unimportant  in 
length  ! 

Look  to  it,  Atlas.  Be  severe  with  your  man.  Tell 
him  his  "  job  "  should  be  "  neatly  done."  I  could  cut 
my  own  throat  better ;  and  if  need  be,  in  case  of  his 
dismissal,  I  offer  my  services. 

Meanwhile,  yours  joyously, 


52  THE  GENTLE  ART 


The  Painter-Etcher  Papers 


exhibition  of  etchings  at  the  Hanover  Gallery 
has  been  the  occasion  of  one  of  those  squabbles  which 
amuse  everybody  —  perhaps,  even  including  the 
quarrellers  themselves.  Some  etchings,  exceedingly 
like  Mr.  Whistler's  in  manner,  but  signed  "  Frank 
Duveneck,"  were  sent  to  the  Painter-Etchers'  Exhibi- 
tion  from  Venice.  The  Painter-Etchers  appear  to 
have  suspected  for  a  moment  that  the  works  were 
really  Mr.  Whistler's;  and,  not  desiring  to  be  the 
victims  of  an  easy  hoax  on  the  part  of  that  gentleman, 
three  of  their  members  —  Dr.  Seymour  Haden,  Dr. 
Hamilton,  and  Mr.  Legros  —  went  to  the  Fine  Art 
Society's  Gallery,  in  New  Bond  Street,  and  asked  one 
of  the  assistants  there  to  show  them  some  of  Mr. 
Whistler's  Venetian  plates.  From  this  assistant  they 
learned  that  Mr.  Whistler  was  under  an  arrangement 
to  exhibit  and  sell  his  Venetian  etchings  only  at  the 
Fine  Art  Society's  Gallery  ;  but,  even  if  these  Painter- 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  53 

Etchers  really  believed  that  "  Frank  Duveneck  "  was 
only  another  name  for  James  Whistler,  this  infor- 
mation about  the  Fine  Art  Society's  arrangement 
with  him  need  not  have  shaken  that  belief,  for  the 
nom  de  plume  might  easily  have  been  adopted  with 
the  concurrence  of  the  Society's  leading  spirits.  Nor 
is  it  altogether  certain  that  the  Painter-Etchers  did 
anything  more  than  compare,  for  their  own  satis- 
faction as  connoisseurs,  the  works  of  Mr.  "Whistler 
and  "  Frank  Duveneck."  The  motives  of  their  doing 
so  may  have  been  misunderstood  by  the  Fine  Art 
Society's  assistant  with  whom  they  conferred. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  this  assistant  thought  fit  to 
repeat  to  Mr.  Whistler  what  had  passed,  and  also 
his  own  impressions  as  to  the  motive  of  the  com- 
parison and  the  inquiries  which  the  Painter-Etchers 
had  instituted.  Whereupon  Mr.  Whistler  has  ad- 
dressed a  letter  to  Mr.  Seymour  Haden  (who  is,  by 
the  way,  his  brother-in-law),  of  which  all  that  need  be 
here  said,  is  that  it  is  extremely  characteristic  of 
Mr.  Whistler. 


54  THE  GENTLE  ART 


Later 


gOME  time  ago  I  referred  to  a  storm  in  an  "  aesthetic 

teapot "  that  was  brewed  and  had  burst  in  the  Fine 

The  CM*™,     Art   Society's  Gallery,   in    Bond    Street,   in   re  Mr. 

April  30, 1881. 

Whistler's  Venice  Etchings.  It  seems  to  me  that 
Mr.  Seymour  Haden,  Mr.  Legros,  and  Mr.  Hamilton 
stumbled  on  an  artistic  mare's  nest,  that  they  rashly 
suggested  that  Mr.  "Whistler  had  been  guilty  of  gross 
misfeasance  in  publishing  etchings  in  an  assumed 
name,  and  that  they  are  now  trying  to  get  out  of 
the  scrape  as  best  they  may.  This  is,  however, 
simply  an  opinion  formed  on  perusal  of  the  following 
documents,  which  I  here  present  to  my  readers  to 
judge  of  : 

The  following  paragraph  was  some  time  ago  sent  to 
me  with  this  letter : — 

"  If  the  Editor  of  the  '  Cuckoo '  should  see  his  way  to  the  publica- 
tion of  the  accompanying  paragraph  as  it  stands,  twenty  copies  may 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  55 

be  sent,  for  circulation  among  the  Council  of  the  Society  of  Painter- 
Etchers,  to  Mr.  Piker,  newsvendor,  Shepherd's  Market." 

"MR.  WHISTLER  AND  THE  PAINTER-ETCHERS. — Our  expla- 
nation of  this  '  Storm  in  a  Teapot '  turns  out  to  have  been  in  the 
main  correct.  It  appears  that  not  only  were  the  three  gentlemen 
who  went  to  the  Fine  Art  Society's  Gallery  to  look  at  Mr.  Whistler's 
etchings  guiltless  of  offence,  but  that  the  object  of  their  going  there 
was  actually  less  to  show  that  Mr.  Whistler  was  than  that  he  was 
not  the  author  of  the  etchings  which  for  a  moment  had  puzzled 
them. 

"For  this,  indeed,  they  seem  to  have  given  each  other — in  the 
presence  of  the  blundering  assistant,  of  course — three  very  distinct 
reasons. 

"  Firstly,  that,  as  already  stated,  Mr.  Seymour  Haden  had  quite 
seriously  written  to  Mr.  Duveneck  to  buy  the  etchings. 

"Secondly,  that  they  at  once  accepted  as  satisfactory  and  suffi- 
cient the  explanation  given  them  of  Mr.  Whistler's  obligations  to 
the  Fine  Art  Society  ;  and,  thirdly,  though  this  count  appears  to 
have  somehow  slipped  altogether  out  of  the  indictment — they  were 
one  and  all  of  opinion  that,  taken  all  round,  the  Duveneck  etchings 
were  the  best  of  the  two  (sic)  I  I  ! 

"It  is  a  pity  a  clever  man  like  Mr.  Whistler  is  yet  not  clever 
enough  to  see  that  while  habitual  public  attacks  on  a  near  relative 
cannot  fail  to  be,  to  the  majority  of  people,  unpalatable,  they 
are  likely  to  be,  when  directed  against  a  brother-etcher,  even 
suspected 

I  did  not  at  the  time  "  see  my  way  "  to  publishing 
the  paragraph  "  as  it  stands,"  but,  having  subsequently 
received  the  following  correspondence,  I  think  it  only 
right  to  give  Mr.  Piker's  paragraph  publicity,  along 
with  the  letters  subjoined  : — 


56  THE  GENTLE  ART 

"  THE  FINE  ART  SOCIETY," 

148  NEW  BOND  STREET. 
March  18,  1881. 

"To  Seymour  Haden,  Esq. — My  dear  Sir, — Mr. 
Whistler  has  called  upon  me  respecting  your  visit 
here  yesterday  with  Mr.  Legros  and  Dr.  Hamilton, 
the  purport  of  which  had  been  communicated  to  him 
by  Mr.  Brown." 

"  He  is  naturally  indignant  that,  knowing,  as  you 
apparently  did,  that  he  was  under  an  engagement  not 
to  publish  for  a  certain  time  any  etchings  of  Venice 
except  those  issued  by  us,  you  should  suggest  that 
they  were  his  work,  and  had  been  sent  in  by  him 
under  a  nom  de  plume." 

"  He  considers  that  it  is  damaging  to  his  reputation 
in  connection  with  us,  and  he  requests  me  to  write 
and  ask  you  whether  you  adhere  to  your  opinion  or 
retract  it." 

"  Believe  me  to  remain,  yours  faithfully, 

"MARCUS  B.  HUISH." 

"38  HERTFORD  STREET,  MAYFAIR,  W. 

March  21,  1881. 

Letter  from  "  ^°  ^'  Suish,  Esq. — Dear  Sir, — I  am  in  receipt  of 
a  letter  from  you,  dated  the  i8th  inst.,  in  which  you 
first  impute  to  me  an  opinion  which  I  have  never 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  57 

held,  and  then  call  me  to  account  for  that  opinion. 
To  a  peremptory  letter  so  framed,  I  shall  not  be 
misunderstood  if  I  simply  decline  to  plead." 

"  Meanwhile,  that  I  was  not  of  opinion  that  the  etch- 
ings in  our  hands  were  by  Mr.  Whistler  is  conclusively 
proved  by  the  fact  that  on  the  day  after  their  recep- 
tion I  had  written  to  Mr.  Duveneck  to  arrange  for 
their  purchase ! " 

"  Be  this,  however,  as  it  may,  I  can  have  no  hesitation 
on  the  part  both  of  myself  and  of  the  gentlemen  en- 
gaged with  me  in  a  necessary  duty,  in  expressing  our 
sincere  regret  if,  by  a  mistaken  representation  of  our 
proceedings,  Mr.  Whistler  has  been  led  to  believe 
that  we  had  said  or  implied  anything  which  could 
give  him  pain  or  reflect  in  any  way  on  his  reputation 
either  with  you  or  your  directors." 

"  Faithfully  yours, 

"F.  SEYMOUR  HADEN." 

"ARTS  CLUB." 

HANOVER  SQUARE. 

"To  Seymour  Haden,  Esq. — Sir, — Mr.  Huish 
handed  me  your  letter  of  the  2ist  inst.,  since  when  Letter  from 

' 

I  have  waited  in  vain  for  the  true  version  that,  I 
doubted  not,  would  follow  the  'mistaken  represen- 
tation '  you  regret  I  should  have  received." 


J.M'N.  Whistler  to 
Mr.  Ha< 


58  THE  GENTLE  ART 

"  Now  I  must  ask  that  you  will,  if  possible,  without 
further  delay,  give  me  a  thorough  explanation  of  your 
visit  to  the  Fine  Art  Society's  Gallery  on  Friday 
evening,  the  i;th  inst., — involving,  as  it  did,  a  dis- 
cussion of  my  private  affairs." 

"Did  you,  accompanied  by  M.  Legros  and  Dr. 
Hamilton,  call  at  the  Fine  Art  Society's  rooms  on 
that  date,  and  ask  to  see  Mr.  Whistler's  etchings  ?  " 

"  Did  you  there  proceed  to  make  a  careful  and 
minute  examination  of  these,  and  then  ask  Mr.  Brown 
if  Mr.  Whistler  had  done  other  etchings  of  Venice  ?  " 

"  Upon  his  answer  in  the  affirmative,  did  you  ask 
Mr.  Brown  if  any  of  the  other  plates  were  large  ones, 
and,  notably,  whether  Mr.  Whistler  had  done  any 
other  plate  of  the  subject  called  '  The  Riva '  ?  " 

"  Did  you  ask  to  see  the  early  states  of  Mr. 
Whistler's  etchings  ?  " 

"  Did  you  say  to  Mr.  Brown,  *  Now,  is  not  Mr. 
Whistler  under  an  engagement  with  the  Fine  Art 
Society  to  publish  no  Venice  etchings  for  a  year  ?  '  or 
words  to  that  effect?  and  upon  Mr.  Brown's  assur- 
ance that  such  was  the  case,  did  you  request  him  to 
go  with  you  to  the  Hanover  Gallery  ?  " 

"Did  you  there  produce  for  his  inspection  three 
large  Venice  etchings,  and  among  them  the  '  Riva ' 
subject?" 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  59 

"  Did  you  then  incite  Mr.  Brown  to  detect,  in  these 
works,  the  hand  of  Mr.  Whistler  ?  " 

"  Did  you  point  out  details  of  execution  which,  in 
your  opinion,  betrayed  Mr.  Whistler's  manner  ?" 

"  Did  you  say,  '  You  see  these  etchings  are  signed 
"  Frank  Duveneck,"  and  I  have  written  to  that  name 
and  address  for  their  purchase,  but  I  don't  believe  in 
the  existence  of  such  a  person,'  or  words  to  that 
effect  ?" 

"If  this  be  not  so, 

"  Why  did  you  take  Mr.  Brown  over  to  the  Hanover 
Gallery  ?  " 

"  Why  did  you  show  him  Mr.  Duveneck's  Venice 
etchings  ?  " 

"  Why  did  you  question  him  about  my  engagement 
with  the  Fine  Art  Society  ?  " 

"  Is  it  officially,  as  the  Painter-Etchers'  President, 
that  you  pry  about  the  town  ?  " 

"  Does  the  Committee  sanction  your  suggestions  ? 
and  have  you  permitted  yourself  these  *  proceedings ' 
with  the  full  knowledge  and  approval  of  the  *  dozen 
or  more  distinguished  men  seated  in  serious  council/ 
as  described  by  yourself  in  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  ?  " 

"  Of  what  nature,  pray,  is  the  *  necessary  duty '  that 
has  led  two  medical  men  and  a  Slade  Professor  to 
fail  as  connoisseurs,  and  blunder  as  detectives  ?  " 


60  THE  GENTLE  ART 

"  *  Vat  shall  de  honest  man  do  in  my  closet  ?    Dere 
is  no  honest  man  dat  shall  come  in  my  closet ! ' " 


"Copies  of  this  correspondence  will  be  sent  to 
members  of  your  Committee." 

To  this  last  letter,  Mr.  Seymour  Haden  has  not 
as  yet  sent  any  answer,  and  here  the  matter  rests. 
As  requested,  we  have  sent  Mr.  Piker  the  copies  he 
requires  for  distribution. 

THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  "  CUCKOO." 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  61 


La  Suite 

"  ARTS  CLUB," 

May  10,  1881. 

'jpO  the  Committee  of  the  Painter-Etchers'  Society  : 

Gentlemen, — I  have  hitherto,  in  vain,  written  to 
Sir  William  Drake,  as  secretary  of  the  Painter- 
Etchers'  Society,  and  feeling;  convinced  that  his  ela-  Letter  to  the 

J  '  Committee  of 

borate  silence  cannot  possibly  be  the  expression  of  s5e3?"Etcl 
any  intended  discourtesy  on  the  part  of  the  Com- 
mittee, as  a  body,  but  that  it  would  rather  indicate 
that  they  had  not  been  consulted  in  the  matter  at  all, 
I  now  address  myself  to  you,  and  beg  that  you  will 
kindly  inform  me  whether  the  Committee,  as  repre- 
sented by  their  officers,  endorse  the  late  acts  of  their 
President,  or  whether  they  intend  taking  any  steps 
towards  refusing  to  share  the  shame  and  ridicule  that 
have  accrued  from  certain  "  proceedings  "  described 
by  Mr.  Haden  as  a  "  necessary  duty,"  in  the  exercise 


62  THE  GENTLE  ART 

of  which  he  was  officially  engaged  in  conjunction  with 

Dr.  Hamilton  and  M.  Legros. 

That  you  may  clearly  see  how  current  the  matter 
has  become,  I  have  the  honour,  Gentlemen,  to  send 
you  herewith,  for  your  serious  consideration,  extracts 
from  the  daily  press,  and  thus,  as  you  will  read, 
carry  out  myself  the  first  intention  of  a  certain  specu- 
lative Piker,  newsvendor,  Shepherd's  Market,  who  had 
purposed  circulating  among  you  "  twenty  copies  "  of 
the  enclosed  literary  venture — curtailed,  it  is  true,  to 
the  original  "  Piker  paragraph,"  and  unaccompanied 
by  the  Piker  twenty-penny  prospect ;  the  printing  of 
which  may — who  knows  ? — have  caused  a  wavering 
on  the  part  of  Piker,  and  have  left  you  deprived  of 
his  labour  after  all. 

Piker  offers  matter  with  authority — and  here  I 
would  point  out  the  close  proximity  of  Shepherd's 
Market  to  Hertford  Street,  May  fair  ! — most  suggestive 
is  such  contiguity.  The  newsvendor's  stall  and  the 
doctor's  office  within  hail  of  each  other! 

Surely  I  may,  without  indiscretion,  congratulate 
the  President  upon  Piker's  English  and  also  upon 
the  Pecksniffian  whine  about  the  "  brother-in-law  " — 
rather  telling  in  its  way — but  shallow !  shallow ! — 
for,  after  all,  Gentlemen,  a  brother-in-law  is  not  a 
connection  calling  for  sentiment — in  the  abstract, 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  63 

rather  an  intruder  than  "  a  near  relation  " — indeed, 
"  near  relation  "  is  mere  swagger ! 

Meanwhile,  the  insinuation  of  jealousy  of  the 
"brother-etcher"  is,  as  Piker  puts  it,  "  suspecte" — 
very  ! — and  modest ! — and  transparent ! 

To  the  last  paper  I  have  added  the  cutting  from  the 
former  Cuckoo  (Piker's  earlier  effort),  so  that  you  have 
the  occasion  of  perceiving  how  the  progressive  Piker 
party  have  gained  n  courage — until,  in  direct  con- 
tradiction to  their  first  anxiety  and  hesitation,  we 
reach  the  final  overwhelming  certainty  of  the  three 
representative  gentlemen,  whose  visit  to  the  Fine  Art 
Society's  rooms,  it  would  now  appear,  was  absolutely 
to  prove  to  the  "  blundering  assistant "  that  some 
etchings  he  had  never  seen,  and,  consequently  never 
had  questioned  ; — of  the  very  existence  of  which,  in 
short,  he  was  utterly  unconscious, — were  by  a  Mr. 
Duveneck,  of  whom  he  had  never  heard,  and  not  by 
Mr.  Whistler ! — a  fact  that  in  his  whole  life  he  had 
never  been  in  a  position  to  dispute — and  of  which 
the  three  Painter-Etchers  themselves  were  the  only  people 
who  had  ever  had  any  doubt ! 

Really,  they  either  doubted  Duveneck,  or  they 
didn't  doubt  Duveneck ! — Now,  if  the  Piker  party 
didn't  doubt  Duveneck,  who  the  devil  did  the  Piker 
party  doubt  ?  And  why,  may  I  ask,  does  Mr.  Haden, 


64  THE  GENTLE  ART 

two  days  after  the  disastrous  blunder  in  Bond  Street, 
volunteer  the  following  note  of  explanation  to  Mr. 
Brown,  the  assistant  ? — 

(COPY.) 

"38  HERTFORD  STREET,  MAYFAIR,  W. 
March  19,  1881. 

"To  Ernest  Brown,  Esq. — Dear  Sir, — We  know  all  about  Mr. 
Frank  Duveneck,  and  are  delighted  to  have  his  etchings. — Yours 
faithfully," 

"F.  SEYMOUR  HADEN." 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  little  expedition  to 
the  Fine  Art  Society's  Gallery  took  place  on  Thursday 
evening,  the  lyth  of  March.  On  Friday,  the  i8th,  Mr. 
Huish  wrote  to  Mr.  Had  en  demanding  an  explanation ; 
and  on  Saturday,  the  iqth,  this  over-diplomatic  and 
criminating  note  was  sent  to  Mr.  Brown, — altogether 
unasked  for,  and  curiously  difficult  to  excuse  ! — "  Me- 
thinks,  he  doth  protest  too  much  ! " 

Further  comment  I  believe  to  be  unnecessary. 

I  refer  you,  Gentlemen,  to  my  letter  of  March  29th, 
which  Mr.  Haden  has  never  been  able  to  answer — 
and  merely  point  out  that,  the  "  blundering  assistant  " 
was  the  only  one  who  did  not  blunder  at  ail — since 
he  alone  refrained  from  folly,  and,  notwithstanding 
all  exhortation,  steadily  refused,  in  the  presence  of 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  65 

cunning   connoisseurs,  to  mistake  the   work   of  one 
man  for  that  of  another. 

I  have,  Gentlemen,  the  honour  to  be, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

J.  MCNEILL  WHISTLER. 

May  18,  1881. 

To  THE  COMMITTEE  OF 

THE  PAINTER-ETCHERS'  SOCIETY. 

May  I,  without  impertinence,  ask  what  really  does 
constitute  the  "  Painter- Etcher"  "  all  round,"  as  Piker 
has  it  ? — for,  of  these  three  gentlemen  who  have  so 
markedly  distinguished  themselves  in  that  character, 
two  certainly  are  not  painters — and  one  doesn't  etch ! 


66  THE  GENTLE  ART 


A   Correction 


A  SUPPOSITITIOUS  conversation  in  Punch 
brought  about  the  following  interchange  of  tele- 
The  world,  grams : — 

From  Oscar  Wilde,  Exeter,  to  J.  McNeill  Whistler, 
Tite  Street. — Punch  too  ridiculous — when  you  and  I 
are  together  we  never  talk  about  anything  except 
ourselves. 

From  Whistler,  Tite  Street,  to  Oscar  Wilde,  Exeter. 
— No,  no,  Oscar,  you  forget — when  you  and  I  are 
together,  we  never  talk  about  anything  except  me. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  67 


A    Warning 


REFLECTION; 

"  A  foolish  man's 
T»    /»•  -r-7-      t  -r  f  m  11  i  foot  is  soon  in  his 

VI  *   dear  James.  I  see  from  a  weekly  paper  that  neighbour's  house 

The  World         «••»*  but  a  man  of 

June  i,  1881.  yOur  late  residence,  the  White  House,  in  Tite  Street, 
is  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Harry  Quilt er,  "  the  excellent 
art  critic  and  writer  on  art,"  or  words  to  that  effect. 
This  is  the  great  man  who  has  succeeded  Mr.  Tom 
Taylor  on  the  Times,  and  whose  vagaries  in  art 
criticism  you  and  I,  my  dear  James,  have  previously 
noticed.  .  . 

ATLAS. 


68  THE  GENTLE  ART 


Naif  Enfant 


to  this  is  another  portrait  of  extreme  in- 
terest, and,  though  of  another  kind,  it  is  not  inappro- 
THe  Times,     priatelv  near  Mr.  Hunt's  work.     This  is  Mr.  John 

May  2, 1881.        *  * 

Ruskin,  painted  by  Mr.  Herkomer.  It  is  difficult  to 
dissociate  this  picture,  as  regards  the  merit  of  its 
painting,  from  the  interest  which  attaches  to  it  as 
being  the  first  oil  portrait  we  have  ever  seen  of  our 
great  art  critic The  picture  remains  a  singu- 
larly fine  one,  and  is,  in  our  opinion,  Mr.  Herkomer's 
best  portrait. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  69 


A  Straight  Tip 


pas  confondre  intelligence  avec  gendarmes" — 
but  surely,  dear  Atlas,  when  the  art  critic  of  the 
Times -,  sufferingpossibly  from  chronic  catarrh,  is  wafted  The  Worldt 
in  at  the  Grosvenor  without  guide  or  compass,  and 
cannot  by  mere  sense  of  smell  distinguish  between  oil 
and  water  colour,  he  ought,  like  Mark  Twain,  "to 
inquire." 

Had  he  asked  the  guardian  or  the  fireman  in  the 
gallery,  either  might  have  told  him  not  to  say  that 
one  of  the  chief  interests  of  Mr.  Herkomer's  large 
water-colour  drawing  of  Mr.  Buskin  "  attaches  to  it 
as  being  the  first  oil  portrait  we  have  ever  seen  of  our 
great  art  critic  "  !  Adieu. 


70  THE  GENTLE  ART 


An  Eager  Aiithority 


WHISTLER  knows  how  to  defend  himself  so 
perkily  that  it  is  a  pleasure  to  attack  him.  I  hasten, 
The  world,  therefore,  with  joy,  to  submit  to  you,  dear  Atlas, 
who  are  growing  so  very  clever  at  your  languages, 
the  following  crotchets  and  quavers — shall  I  call  them? 
for  Mr.  Whistler  is  just  now  full  of  "notes" — in 
American-Italian ;  they  are  from  his  delightful  brown- 
paper  catalogue.  To  begin  with,  "  Santa  Margharita" 
is  wrong ;  it  must  be  either  Margarita  or  Margherita ; 
the  other  is  impossible  Italian.  Then  who  or  what  is 
"  San  Giovanni  Apostolo  et  Evangelistce  "  ?  Does  the 
sprightly  and  shrill  McNeill  mean  this  for  Latin  ? 
And  is  the  "  Oaf  4  Orientale  "  intended  to  be  French  or 
Italian  ?  It  has  an  e  too  many  for  French,  and  an  / 
too  few  for  Italian.  "  Piazetta,"  furthermore,  does 
duty  for  "  Piazzetta."  Finally  I  give  up  "  Campo  Sta. 
Martin."  I  don't  know  what  that  can  be.  The  Italian 
Calendar  has  a  San  Martino  and  a  Santa  Martina,  but 
Sta.  Martin  is  very  curious.  The  catalogue  is  exceed- 
ingly short,  but  a  few  of  the  names  are  right. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  71 


An  Admission 

DOUCHE ! — and  my  compliments  to  your  "  Corre- 
spondent," Atlas,  cheri — far  from  me  to  justify  spelling 
of  my  own  !  But  who  could  possibly  have  supposed 
an  orthographer  loose  1  Evidently  too  "  ung  vieulx 
qui  a  moult  roule  en  Palestine  et  aultres  lieux." 

What  it  is  to  be  prepared,  though  !  Atlas,  mon 
pauvre  ami,  you  know  the  story  of  the  witness  who, 
when  asked  how  far  he  stood  from  the  spot  where  the 
deed  was  done,  answered  unhesitatingly — "  Sixty-three 
feet  seven  inches ! "  "  How,  sir,"  cried  the  prosecuting 
lawyer — "  how  can  you  possibly  pretend  to  such  accu- 
racy ?  "  "  Well,"  returned  the  man  in  the  box,  "  you 

see  I  thought  some  d d  fool  would  be  sure  to  ask 

me,  and  so  I  measured." 


72  THE  GENTLE  ART 


'Arry  in  the  Grosvenor 

\, — In  spite  of  the  Kyrle  Society,  I  don't 
appeal  to  the  middle  classes  ;  for  I  read  in  the  Times 
that  'Arry  won't  have  me.  I  am  ranked  with  the 
caviare  of  his  betters,  and  add  not  to  the  relish  of  his 
winkles  and  tea. 

Also,  why  troubles  he  about  many  things  ? 

But,   alas!    as   is   aptly  remarked   in   one  of  the 

May  17,  1882. 

weekly  papers,  "  'Arry  has  taken  to  going  to  the 
Grosvenor " ;  and  "  ce  n'est  pas  tout  que  d'etre 
honnete,"  he  says,  lightly  paraphrasing  Alfred  de 
Musset,  "  il  faut  etre  joli  gar9on  !  " 

And  so  he  blooms  into  an  aesthete  of  his  own  order. 
To  have  seen  him,  0  my  wise  Atlas,  was  my  privilege 
and  my  misery ;  for  he  stood  under  one  of  my  own 
"  harmonies " — already  with  difficulty  gasping  its 
gentle  breath — himself  an  amazing  "  arrangement " 
n  strong  mustard-and-cress,  with  bird's-eye  belcher  of 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  73 

Reckitt's  blue;  and  then  and  there  destroyed  abso- 
lutely, unintentionally,  and  once  for  all,  my  year's 
work ! 

Atlas,  shall  these  things  be  ? 


74  THE  GENTLE  ART 


Encouragement 

TO  OSCAR  ON  HIS  "  TOUR." 

QSCAR, — We,  of  Tite  Street  and  Beaufort  Gardens, 
orld,     joy  in  your  triumphs  and  delight  in  your  success; 
but  we  are  of  opinion  that,   with  the  exception  of 

your  epigrams,  you  talk  like  "  S C in  the 

provinces";    and  that,  with   the  exception  of  your 
knee-breeches,  you  dress  like  'Arry  Quilter. 


CHELSEA. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  75 


A  Remonstrance 


5,  how  could  you  ! 

I  know  you  carry  the  World  on  your  back,  and  am 
not  surprised  that  my  note  to  Oscar,  on  its  way, 
should  have  fallen  from  your  shoulders  into  your 
dainty  fingers ;  but  why  present  it  in  the  state  of 
puzzle  ? 

Besides,  your  caution  is  one-sided  and  unfair ;  for 

if  you  print  S C ,  why  not  A Q ? 

Why  not  X  Y  Z  at  once  ? 

And  how  unlike  me!  Instead  of  the  frank  reck- 
lessness which  has  unfortunately  become  a  charac- 
teristic, I  am,  for  the  first  time,  disguised  in  careful 
timidity,  and  discharge  my  insinuating  initials  from 
the  ambush  of  innuendo. 

My  dear  Atlas,  if  I  may  not  always  call  a  spade 
a  spade,  may  I  not  call  a  Slade  Professor,  Sidney 
Colvin  ? 


76  THE  GENTLE  ART 


Propositions 

I.  "pHAT  in  Art,  it  is  criminal  to  go  beyond  the 
means  used  in  its  exercise. 

II.  That  the  space  to  be  covered  should  always  be 

in  proper  relation  to  the  means  used  for  covering  it.        with  compli- 

ments to  the  Corn- 

III.  That  in  etching,  the  means  used,  or  instru-  £§%££&&,* 

,,,.,,/.  .,,  .     ,       ,,        ing  Club  upon  the 

ment  employed,  being  the  finest  possible  point,  the  occasion  of  receiv- 

r      J  *  ing  an  invitation  to 

space  to  be  covered  should  be  small  in  proportion.          fnTtoumay^hlS 

first  condition  was 

IV.  That    all    attempts    to    overstep    the    limits 


insisted    upon    by    such   proportion,    are    inartistic  bythl  ;' 
thoroughly,  and  tend   to  reveal  the  paucity  of  the 
means  used,  instead  of  concealing  the  same,  as  re- 
quired by  Art  in  its  refinement. 

V.  That  the  huge  plate,  therefore,  is  an  offence  — 
its  undertaking  an  unbecoming  display  of  determina- 
tion  and   ignorance  —  its  accomplishment  a  triumph 
of  unthinking  earnestness  and  uncontrolled  energy  — 
endowments  of  the  "  duffer." 

VI.  That  the  custom  of  "Remarque  "emanates  from 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  77 

the  amateur,  and  reflects  his  foolish  facility  beyond 
the  border  of  his  picture,  thus  testifying  to  his  un- 
scientific sense  of  its  dignity. 

VII.  That  it  is  odious. 

VIII.  That,  indeed,  there  should  be  no  margin  on 
the  proof  to  receive  such  "  Remarque." 

IX.  That  the  habit  of  margin,  again,  dates  from 
the  outsider,  and  continues  with  the  collector  in  his 
unreasoning  connoisseurship — taking  curious  pleasure 
in  the  quantity  of  paper. 

X.  That  the  picture  ending  where  the  frame  begins, 
and,  in  the  case  of  the  etching,  the  white  mount,  being 
inevitably,  because  of  its  colour,  the  frame,  the  picture 
thus  extends  itself  irrelevantly  through  the  margin  to 
the  mount. 

XI.  That  wit  of  this  kind  would  leave  six  inches  of 
raw  canvas  between  the  painting  and  its  gold  frame, 
to   delight  the   purchaser   with  the  quality   of   the 
cloth. 


78  THE  GENTLE  ART 


An   Unanswered  Letter 


CHARMOY,  AUTUN, 

ET  LOIRE,  FRANCE, 

Sept.  13,  1867. 

, — I  am  at  present  engaged  upon  a  book  on  etching 
and  should  be  glad  to  give  a  full  account  of  what  you 
have  done,  but  find  a  difficulty,  which  is  that,  although 
I  ihave  seen  many  of  your  etchings,  I  have  not  fully 
and  fairly  studied  them.  I  wonder  whether  you 
would  object  to  lend  me  a  set  of  proofs  for  a  few 
weeks.  As  the  book  is  already  advanced,  I  should  be 
glad  of  an  early  reply.  My  opinion  of  your  work  is, 
on  the  whole,  so  favourable  that  your  reputation  could 
only  gain  by  your  affording  me  the  opportunity  of 
speaking  of  your  work  at  length. 
I  remain,  Sir, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

P.  G.  HAMERTON. 
JAMES  WHISTLER,  Esq. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  79 


Inconsequences 


TAMES  WHISTLER  is  of  American  extraction,  and 
studied  painting  in  France.  As  a  student  he  was 
capricious  and  irregular,  and  did  not  leave  the  impres- 
sion amongst  his  fellow-pupils  that  his  future  would 
be  in  any  way  distinguished  ....  his  artistic  educa- 
tion seems  to  have  been  mainly  acquired  by  private 
Itching*  an(^  independent  study  ..... 

Mr.  Whistler  seems  to  be  aware  that  etchings  are 
usually  sought  as  much  for  their  rarity  as  their  excel- 
lence, and  to  have  determined  that  his  own  plates 
shall  be  rare  already. 

I  have  been  told  that,  if  application  is  made  by 
letter  to  Mr.  Whistler  for  a  set  of  his  etchings,  he 
may,  perhaps,  if  he  chooses  to  answer  the  letter,  do 


m     a  e*e 

about  the  price  of  a  good  horse 


the  applicant  the  favour  to  let  him  have  a  copy  for  plin?erseneetchers 

would  find  anything 


Whistler's  etchings  are  not  generally  remarkable  London  wbaife."- 

*  P.  G.  HAMERTON, 

for  poetical  feeling  ..... 

P.  G.  HAMERTON,* 

Etching  and  Etchers. 


8o 


THE  GENTLE  ART 


Uncovered  Opinions 


, 

•  "  Corot  is  one  of 

tSSftSSS? 

in  France.    The 


looking  at  his  works, 
is  that  they  are  the 
sketches  of  an  ama- 
teur  ;  it  is  difficult 
at  first  sight  to 
consider  them  the 
serious  perform- 
ances  of  an  artist. 
....  I  understand 
Corot  now,  and 
think  his  reputation, 
if  not  well  deserved, 
at  least  easily  ac- 
counted  for  ..... 
Corot  must  be  an 
early  riser."  —  P.  G. 
HAMERTON,  Fine 
Arts  Quarterly. 


MR.  WHISTLER'S  famous  "  Woman  in  White  " 

is  amongst  the  rejected  pictures The  hangers 

must  have  thought  her  particularly  ugly,  for  they 
have  given  her  a  sort  of  place  of  honour,  before  an 
opening  through  which  all  pass,  so  that  nobody  misses 
her. 

I  watched  several  parties,  to  see  the  impression 
the  "  Woman  in  White  "  made  on  them.  They  all 
stopped  instantly,  struck  with  amazement.  This  for 
two  or  three  seconds;  then  they  always  looked  at 
each  other  and  laughed. 

Here,  for  once,  I  have  the  happiness  to  be  quite  of 
the  popular  way  of  thinking. 

*P.  G.  HAMERTON, 

Fine  Arts  Quarterly. 


*  "  Dore  (Gustave  Paul)  ----  He  is  a 
great  and  marvellous  genius—  a  poet 
such  as  a  nation  produces  once  in  a 
thousand  years.     He  is  the  most 
imaginative,  the  profoundest,  the  most 
productive  poet  that  has  ever  sprung 
from  the  French  race."—  P.  G.  HAMER- 
TOW,  Fine  Arts  Quarterly. 


Daubigny  (Charles  Francois).—  If 
can  be  satisfactorily  painted 


landscape 
without  either  dra 


ing  or  colour— 


Daubigny  is  the  man  to  do  it."  — 
P.  G.  HAMERTON,  Fine  Arts 
Quarterly. 


M.  Courbet  is 


Realism  in  France. 
The  truth  is  that 
Edouard  Frere,  the 
Bonheurs,  and 
many  others  are 
to  the  full  as 
realistic  as  Courbet, 
but  they  produce 
beautiful  pictures. 
....  It  is  difficult 
to  speak  of  Courbet 
without  losing 
patience.     Every- 
thing  he  touches 
becomes  unplea- 
sant."  —  P.  G.  HAM- 
ERTON,  Fine  Arts 
Quarterly, 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  81 


The  Fate  of  an  Anecdote 

TO  THE  EDITOR: 

, — In  Scribner's  Magazine  for  this  month  there 
appears  an  article  on  Mr.  Seymour  Haden,  the  eminent 
surgeon  etcher,  by  a  Mr.  Hamerton,  and  in  this 
article  I  have  stumbled  upon  a  curious  statement  con- 
cerning, strangely  enough,  my  own  affairs,  offered 
pleasantly  in  the  disguise  of  an  anecdote  habitually 
"  narrated  "  by  the  Doctor  himself,  and  printed  effec- 
tively in  inverted  commas,  as  here  shown  : 

.  ..."  A  parallel  anecdote  is  narrated  by  Mr. 
Haden :  c  The  most  exquisite  series  of  plates  which 
Whistler  ever  did — his  sixteen  Thames  subjects — were 
originally  printed  by  a  steel-plate  printer,  and  so  badly 
that  the  owner  thought  the  plates  were  worn  out,  and 
sold  them  for  a  small  sum  in  comparison  to  their  real 
worth.  The  purchaser  took  them  to  Goulding,  the 
best  printer  of  etchings  in  England,  and  it  was  found 
that  they  were  not  only  perfect,  but  that  they  pro- 


82  THE  GENTLE  ART 

duced  impressions  which  had  never  before  been  ap- 
proached even  by  Delatre.' " 

Putting  gently  aside  the  question  of  these  plates 
being  superior  to  all  previous  or  subsequent  work,  and 
dealing  merely  with  facts,  I  have  to  say  that  they 
were  not  "  originally  printed  by  a  steel-plate  printer  "  ; 
that  the  impressions  were  not  so  bad  that  the  owner 
thought  the  plates  worn  out ;  and,  flattering  as  is  the 
supposition  that  they  were  sold  for  a  small  sum  in 
comparison  to  their  real  worth,  I  am  obliged  to  reject 
even  this  palatable  assertion,  as  I  received  for  the 
plates  the  price  that  I  asked,  knowing  full  well  their 
exact  condition. 

Instead  of  the  "  steel-plate  printer,"  Delatre,  then 
at  his  prime,  had  himself  printed  these  etchings — a  fact 
which,  amusingly  enough,  Mr.  Haden  admits  further 
on,  in  direct  contradiction  to  his  first  broad  statement. 
Moreover,  1  had  myself  pulled  proofs  of  them  all ; 
indeed,  one  in  the  set  of  sixteen  plates,  a  drypoint, 
called  "  The  Forge  "  (for  by  the  way  they  were  not  all 
of  the  Thames),  I  alone  printed.  When  the  plates 
left  my  hands  they  were  not  "  taken  to  Goulding,"  who 
at  that  moment  had,  I  fancy,  barely  begun  his  career 
as  "  the  best  printer  of  etchings  in  England  "  (and  a 
capital  printer  he  certainly  is) ;  and  it  was  not  "  found 
that  they  produced  impressions  never  before  ap- 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  83 

preached  even  by  Delatre  " — here  we  have  the  contra- 
diction alluded  to — no  !  this  theatrical  denouement  I 
must  also  put  aside  with  sorrow. 

The  plates  were  brought  out  by  Messrs.  Ellis,  who 
had  them  printed  by  some  one  in  London,  whose  work 
was  certainly  not  to  be  compared  to  that  of  Delatre, 
whom  I  should  undoubtedly  have  recommended ;  so 
that  it  was  only  long  after  the  sale  had  been  completed 
and  the  plates  had  ceased  to  be  in  my  possession,  that 
inferior  impressions  were  produced. 

The  understanding  on  my  part  with  those  publishers 
was  that  the  plates  were  to  be  destroyed  after  one 
hundred  impressions  had  been  taken,  but  very  re- 
cently they  reappeared,  and  were  sold  to  their  present 
possessors,  who  did  take  them  to  Mr.  Goulding.  And 
here  I  am  obliged  to  explain  away  the  last  element  of 
astonishment,  for  Mr.  Goulding  naturally  found  the 
etchings  in  their  original  perfect  condition  simply 
because  I  had  had  them  steeled  in  their  full  bloom 
when  I  had  satisfied  myself  by  my  own  proofs. 

Goulding's  impressions  of  these  plates  are  very 
excellent,  but  to  say  they  were  quite  unapproached  by 
Delatre  is  not  only  needless  exaggeration,  but  an 
unkindness  to  Mr.  Goulding. 

Surely  there  must  be  some  misunderstanding  be- 
tween Mr.  Haden  and  his  biographer — a  misdeal  of 


S4  THE  GENTLE  ART  OF  MAKING  ENEMIES 
data — an  accident  with  the  anecdotes — because  no  one 
was  more  keenly  alive  to  all  relating  to  these  plates 
and  their  various  states  than  Mr.  Haden  himself, 
whose  strong  sense  of  the  importance  of  printing  was 
-acquired  while  watching  the  progress  of  these  same 
plates,  and  the  previous  French  set,  as  they  were 
proved  by  me  and  printed  by  Delatre,  to  whom  I 
introduced  him. 

Far  from  me  to  spoil  a  good  story ;  but  for  the 
life  of  me  I  cannot  see  what  any  sympathizing 
raconteur  will  regret  in  the  destruction  of  this 
mere  jumble  of  statistics  that  Mr.  Hamerton  calls 
"Mr.  Haden's  anecdote." 


VENICE,  Aug.  16,  1880. 


In  Ex  eel 3  a. 


86  THE  GENTLE  ART 


In  Excelsis 


HAMERTON  presents  his  compliments  to 
Mr.  Whistler,  and  begs  to  inform  him  that  he  has 
read  Mr.  Whistler's  very  unbecoming  and  improper 
letter  in  the  New  York  Tribune. 

Mr.  Hamerton  in  his  article  in  Scribner's  Monthly 
simply  quoted  a  passage  from  one  of  Mr.  Haden's 
lectures  on  Etching,  published  in  Cassell's  Magazine 
of  Art;  consequently  Mr.  Hamerton  did  not  offer 
matter  to  his  readers  under  any  disguise  whatever. 
Mr.  Hamerton  has  answered  Mr.  Whistler's  letter  in 
the  same  journal  in  which  it  appeared. 

PR§  CHARMOY,  AUTUN,  SxdNE  ET  LOIRE 
Sept.  28,  1880. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  87 


A  Suspicion 

JT  is  possibly  too  much  to  expect — upon  the  prin- 
ciple of  "trumps  not  turning  up  twice" — but  Mr. 
Whistler  does  hope  that  Mr.  Hamerton's  letter  to  the 
New  York  Tribune  will  be  as  funny  as  his  note  to 
Mr.  Whistler,  which  has  just  been  forwarded  from 
London. 

VENICE,  Oct.  7. 
CAFfi  FLORIAN,  PLACE  SAN  MARC. 

Pardon !  Is  Mr.  Whistler  right  in  supposing,  from 
the  droll  little  irritation  shown  in  Mr.  Hamerton's 
note,  that  Mr.  Hamerton  is  perhaps — another  "  Art 
Critic"? 


88  THE  GENTLE  ART 


Conviction 


TO  THE  EDITOR: 

, — A  friend  in  America  has  sent  me,  the  letter 
from  Mr.  Whistler  which  refers  to  my  article  in 
ticribner  on  Mr.  Haden's  etchings.  The  letter  begins 
as  follows  : 

In    Scribner's    Magazine    for    this    month    there 
k Tribune,  appears  an  article  on  Mr.  Seymour  Haden.  the  emi- 

Oct  ii,  1880. 

nent  surgeon  etcher  by  a  Mr.  Hamerton,  and  in  this 
article  I  have  stumbled  upon  a  curious  statement 
concerning — strangely  enough — my  own  affairs, 
offered  pleasantly  in  the  disguise  of  an  anecdote 
habitually  '  narrated '  by  the  Doctor  himself,  and 
printed  effectively  in  inverted  commas,  as  here  shown. 
Here  Mr.  Whistler  accuses  me  of  disguising  some- 
thing which  I  choose  to  tell,  as  if  it  came  from  Mr. 
Haden,  by  printing  it  in  inverted  commas.  The 
statement  is  "offered  pleasantly  in  the  disguise  of 
an  anecdote,"  and  "printed  effectively  in  inverted 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  89 

commas."  I  used  inverted  commas  because  it  is  the 
custom  to  do  so  when  making  a  quotation.  I  quoted 
Mr.  Haden's  own  words  from  one  of  his  lectures  on 
etching,  and  they  will  be  found  printed,  as  I  quoted 
them,  in  Cassell's  Magazine  of  Art.  I  beg  to  be  per- 
mitted to  observe  that  a  writer  who  quotes  a  passage, 
as  I  did,  in  perfect  good  faith,  ought  not  to  be  accused 
of  offering  matter  in  disguise.  There  was  no  disguise 
about  it.  Mr.  Haden's  words  may  be  compared  with 
my  quotation.  Again,  to  prevent  any  possible  in- 
accuracy, a  proof  of  the  article  in  Scribner  was  sent 
de*  Queen's  evi-  to  Mr.  Haden  before  it  was  published.*  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  that  I  should  allude  to  Mr.  Whistler's 
studied  discourtesy  in  calling  me  "a  Mr.  Hamerton." 
It  does  me  no  harm,  but  it  is  a  breach  of  ordinary  REFLECTION: 
good  manners  in  speaking  of  a  well-known  writer ! 


Yours  obediently, 


P.  G.  HAMERTON. 

AUTUN,  Sept.  29,  1880. 


MR.    WHISTLER 

AND 

HIS  CRITICS 

A   CATALOGUE 


Out  of  their  own  mouths  shall  ye  judge  them 


41  Who  breaks  a  butterfly  upon  a  wheel? 


Etchings  and  Dry-points 
His  pictures  form  a  dangerous  precedent." 


VENICE. 

"  Another  crop  of  Mr.  Whistler's  little  jokes." 

Truth. 

i.— MURANO— GLASS  FURNACE. 
"  Criticism  is  powerless  here." — Knowledge. 

2.— DOORWAY  AND  VINE. 

"  He  must  not  attempt  to  palm  off  his  deficiencies 
upon  us  as  manifestations  of  power." 

Daily  Telegraph. 


94  THE  GENTLE  ART 

3.  —WHEELWRIGHT. 

"  Their  charm  depends  not  at  all  upon  the  technical 
qualities  so  striking  in  his  earlier  work." 

St.  James's  Gazette. 

4.— SAN  BIAGIO. 

"  So  far  removed  from  any  accepted  canons  of  art 
as  to  be  beyond  the  understanding  of  an  ordinary 
mortal ." —  Observer. 

5.— BEAD  STRINGERS. 
"  *  Impressionistes,'  and  of  these  the  various  schools 

"Etvoilicomme 

are  represented  by  Mr.  Whistler,  Mr.  Spencer  Stanhope,  ™  *cri1 
Mr.  Walter  Crane,  and  Mr.  Strudwick." 

6.— FISH  SHOP. 

"  Those  who  feel  painfully  the  absence  in  these 
works  of  any  feeling  for  the  past  glories  of  Venice." 

'Arry  in  the  Spectator. 
"  Whistler  is  eminently  vulgar." — Glasgow  Herald. 

7.— TURKEYS. 

"  They  say  very  little  to  the  mind." — F.  Wedmore. 
11  It  is  the  artist's  pleasure  to  have  them  there,  and 
we  can't  help  it." — Edinburgh  Courant. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  95 

8.— NOCTURNE  RIVA. 

"  The  Nocturne  is  intended  to  convey  an  impression 
of  night." — P.  G.  Hamerton. 

"  The  subject  did  not  admit  of  any  drawing." 

P.  G.  Hamerton. 

"  We  have  seen  a  great  many  representations  of 
Venetian  skies,  but  never  saw  one  before  consisting 
of  brown  smoke  with  clots  of  ink  in  diagonal  lines." 

9.— FRUIT  STALL. 

"  The  historical  or  poetical  associations  of  cities  have 
little  charm  for  Mr.  Whistler  and  no  place  in  his 
art." 

io.— SAN  GIORGIO. 
"  An  artist  of  incomplete  performance." 

F.  Wedmore. 

ii.— THE  DYER. 

"  By  having  as  little  to  do  as  possible  with  tone  and  .aVr? 
light  and  shade.  Mr.  Whistler  evades  great  difficul-  -but  iteis  a  breach 

of  ordinary  good 

ties."— P.  G.  Hamerton. 

"  All  those  theoretical  principles  of  the  art,  of  which 
we  have  heard  so  much  from  Messrs.  Haden,  Hamer- 
ton  (?)  *  and  Lalauze,  are  abandoned." 

St.  James's  Gazette. 


96  THE  GENTLE  ART 

12.— NOCTURNE  PALACES. 

"  Pictures  in  darkness  are  contradictions  in  terms." 

Literary  World. 

13.— THE  DOORWAY. 

"  There  is  seldom  in  his  Etchings  any  large  arrange- 
ment of  light  and  shade." — P.  G.  Hamerton. 
"  Short,  scratchy  lines." — St.  James's  Gazette. 
"  The  architectural  ornaments  and  the  interlacing 
bars  of  the  gratings  are  suggested  rather  than  drawn/' 

St.  James's  Gazette. 
"  Amateur  prodige." — Saturday  Review. 

14— LONG  LAGOON. 

"  We  think  that  London  fogs  and  the  muddy  old 
Thames  supply  Mr.  Whistler's  needle  with  subjects 
more  congenial  than  do  the  Venetian  palaces  and 
lagoons." — Daily  News. 

15.— TEMPLE. 
"  The  work  does  not  feel  much."— Times. 

16.— LITTLE  SALUTE.— (DRY-POINT.) 
"As  for  the  lucubrations  of   Mr.  Whistler,  they 
come  like  shadows  and  will  so  depart,  and  it  is  unneces- 
sary to  disquiet  one's  self  about  them'' 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  97 

17. -THE  BRIDGE. 

"  These  works  have  been  done  with  a  swiftness  and 
dash  that  precludes  anything  like  care  and  finish." 

"  These  etchings  of  Mr.  Whistler's  are  nothing  like 
so  satisfactory  as  his  earlier  Chelsea  ones;  they 
neither  convey  the  idea  of  space  nor  have  they  the 
delicacy  of  handling  and  treatment  which  we  see  in 
those." 

"  He  looked  at  Venice  never  in  detail." 

F.  Wedniore. 


18.—  WOOL  CARDERS. 

*  Mr.  Wedmore 

"  They  have  a  merit  of  their  own,  and  I  do  not  £ 


wish  to  understand  it."*  —  F.  Wedmore.  vigouTand  exqui- 

siteness  are  denied 
—are  they  not?— 
even  to  a  Velas- 
quez "  ! 

19.—  UPRIGHT  VENICE. 

"  Little  to  recommend  them  save  the  eccentricity 
of  their  titles." 


20.— LITTLE  VENICE. 

"The  Little  Venice  is  one  of  the  slightest  of  the 
series." — JSt.  James's  Gazette. 

"In  the  Little  Venice  and  the  Little  Lagoon  Mr. 
Whistler  has  attempted  to  convey  impressions  by 
lines  far  too  few  for  his  purposes." — Daily  News. 


98  THE  GENTLE  ART 

"  Our  river  is  naturally  full  of  effects  in  black  and 
white  and  bistre.  Venetian  skies  and  marbles  have 
colour  you  cannot  suggest  with  a  point  and  some 
printer's  ink."  —  Daily  News. 

"  It  is  not  the  Venice  of  a  maiden's  fancies."  —  'Arry. 

21.—  LITTLE  COURT. 
"  Merely  technical  triumphs."  —  Standard. 

22.—  REGENT'S  QUADRANT. 
"  There  may  be  a  few  who  find  genius  in  insanity." 


23.—  LOBSTER  POTS. 

*  The  same 


"  So  little  in  them."  *—  P.  G.  Hamerton. 

beautiful  from 
Maidenhead  to  Kew,  but  not  from 
Battersea  to  Sheerness." 

24.—  RIVA  No.  2. 

"  In  all  his  former  Etchings  he  was  careful  to  give 
a  strong  foundation  of  firm  drawing.  In  these  plates, 
however,  he  has  cast  aside  this  painstaking  method." 

St.  James's  Gazette. 


25-— ISLANDS. 

•  Elsewhere 

"  An  artist  who  has  never  mastered  the  subtleties  of  Zt£\ 


accurate  form."  * — F.  Wedmore.  lector  mu™ec< 

gradually  and 
painfully  acquire 
the  eye  to  judge  of  the  impression." 

REFLECTION: 

This  is  possibly  the  process  through 
which  the  preacher  is  passing. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  99 

26.— THE  LITTLE  LAGOON. 

"Well,  little  new  came  of  it,  in  etching;  nothing 
new  that  was  beautiful." — F.  Wedmore. 

27.— NOCTURNE  SHIPPING. 

"  This  Archimago  of  the  iconographic  aoraton,  or 
graphiology  of  the  Hidden." — Daily  Telegraph.  "  Amazing  r 

"  Popularity  is  the  only  insult  that  has  not  yet  been 
offered  to  Mr.  Whistler." — Oscar  Wilde. 

28.— TWO  DOORWAYS. 

"  It  is  trying  to  any  sketch  without  tone  to  be  hung 
upon  a  wall  as  these  have  been." — P.  G.  Hamerton. 

29.— OLD  WOMEN. 
"  He  is  never  literary." — P.  G.  Hamerton. 


30.— RIVA. 

REFLECTION: 

"He   took   from   London    to    Venice    his    happy  Like Eno-s Fruit 

*  **     Salt  or  the  "  Anti- 

fashion  of  suggesting  lapping  water." — F.  Wedmore.      mal-de-Mer-i" 

"  Even  such  a  well-worn  subject  as  the  Biva  degli 
Schiavoni  is  made  original  (?)  by  being  taken  from  a 
high  point  of  view,  and  looked  at  lengthwise,  instead 
of  from  the  canal." 


ioo  THE  GENTLE  ART 

31.— DRURY  LANE. 

4  *  In  Mr.  Whistler's  productions  one  might  safely 
say  that  there  is  no  culture." — Athenceum. 

32.— THE  BALCONY. 
"  His  colour  is  subversive." — Russian  Press. 

33.— ALDERNEY  STREET. 
"  The  best  art  may  be  produced  with  trouble." 

F.  Wedmare*  *££$£ 


sian."— F.  WED- 
MORE. 


34.— THE  SMITHY. 

"  They  produce  a  disappointing  impression." 
"  His  Etchings  seem  weak  when  framed."  *  do^aisoH»y?rton 

"Indifference  to 

P.  G.  ffamerton.  SSfiJSS" 

splendid  success  in 
etching,  as  the  ca- 
reer of  Rembrandt 

35.  —STABLES.  prwed."-/ffc/Kiyr 

and  2-tcfttrs. 

"  An  unpleasing  thing,  and  framed  in  Mr.  Whistler's 
odd  fashion." — City  Press. 

36.— THE  MAST. 

"  The  Mast  and  the  Little  Mast  are  dependent  for 
much  of  their  interest,  on  the  drawing  of  festoons  REFLECT10N 
of  cord  hanging  from  unequal  heights."  At  the  service  of 

critics  of  unequal 

P.  G.  ffamerton.  skcs' 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  101 

37.— TRAGHETTO. 

"  The  artist's  present  principles  seem  to  deny  him 
any  effective  chiaroscuro." — P.  G.  Hamerton. 

"Mr.  Whistler's  figure  drawings,  generally  defective  t 

.  ,,  generally  always. 

and  always  incomplete. 

38.— FISHING  BOAT. 

"  Subjects  unimportant  in  themselves." 

P.  G.  Hamerton. 

39.— PONTE  PIOVAN. 
"  Want  of  variety  in  the  handling." 

St.  James's  Gazette. 

40.— GARDEN. 

"  An  art  which  is  happier  in  the  gloom  of  a  doorway 
than  in  the  glow  of  the  sunshine,  and  turns  with  a 
pleasant  blindness  from  whatsoever  in  Nature  or  Man 
is  of  perfect  beauty  or  noble  thought." — 'Arry. 

41.— THE  RIALTO. 

"  Mr.  Whistler  has  etched  too  much  for  his  reputa- 
tion."— F.  Wedmore. 

«  Scampering  caprice."—,?.  Colvin.  DEFLECTION: 

This  Critic,  it  is 

"Mr.  Whistler's  drawing,  which  is  sometimes  that        sa' 
of  a  very  slovenly  master." 


102  THE  GENTLE  ART 

42.— LONG  VENICE. 

"  After  all,  there  are  certain  accepted  canons  about 
what  constitutes  good  drawing,  good  colour,  and  good 
painting ;  and  when  an  artist  deliberately  sets  himself 
to  ignore  or  violate  all  of  these,  it  is  desirable  that  his 
work  should  not  be  classed  with  that  of  ordinary 
artists." — 'Arry. 

43-— NOCTURNE  SALUTE. 

"  The  utter  absence,  as  far  as  my  eye  *  may  be 
trusted,  of  gradation." — F.  Wedmore. 

"  There  are  many  things  in  a  painter's  art  which 
even  a  photographer  cannot  understand." 

Laudatory  notice  in  Provincial  Press. 

44.— FURNACE  NOCTURNE. 

"  There  is  no  moral  element  in  his  chiaroscuro." 

Richmond  Eagle. 

45-—  PIAZETTA. 

"  Whistler  does  not  take  much  pains  with  his  work." 

New  York  Paper. 

"  A  sort  of  transatlantic  impudence  in  his  clever- 
ness." 

"  His  pictures  do  not  claim  to  be  accurate." 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  103 

46.— THE  LITTLE  MAST. 
"  Form  and  line  are  of  little  account  to  him." 

47.— QUIET  CANAL. 

"  Herr  Whistler  stellt  ganz  wunclerbare  Produc- 
tionen  aus,  die  auf  Gesetze  der  Form  und  der  Farbe 
gegriindet  scheinen,  die  dem  Uneingeweihten  unver- 
standlich  sind." — Wiener  Presse. 

"  This  new  manner  of  Mr.  Whistler's  is  no  improve- 
ment upon  that  which  helped  him  to  win  his  fame  in 
this  field  of  art." 

48.— PALACES. 

"  The  absence,  seemingly,  of  any  power  of  drawing 
the  forms  of  water."  * — F.  Wedmore.  *  see  NO.  30, 

The  Rvva. 

"  He  has  never,  so  far  as  we  know,  attempted  to 
transfer  to  copper  any  of  the  more  ambitious  works  of 
the  architect." — Pall  Mall  Gazette. 

"  He  has  been  content  to  show  us  what  his  eyes  can 
see,  and  not  what  his  hand  can  do." 

St.  James's  Gazette. 

49.— SALUTE  DAWN. 
"  Too  sensational." — Athenceum. 

11  Pushing  a  single  artistic  principle  to  the  verge  of 
affectation." — Sidney  Colvin. 


io4  THE  GENTLE  ART 

50.  -BEGGARS. 

"  In  the  character  of  humanity  he  has  not  time  to 
be  interested."  —  Standard. 

11  General  absence  of  tone."  —  P.  G.  Hamerton. 

51.—  LAGOON:  NOON. 

"  Years  ago  James  Whistler  was  a  person  of  high 
promise."  —  F.  Wedmore. 

REFLECTION: 

"  What  the  art  of  Mr.  Whistler  yields  is  a  tertium     •  rue  quid  of 

sweet  and  bitter 

quid."*  —  Sidney  Colvin.  fanc>'- 


"  All  of  which  gems,  I  am  sincerely  thankful  to  say, 
I  cannot  appreciate." 

"  As  we  have  hinted,  the  series  does  not  represent 
any  Venice  that  we  much  care  to  remember  ;  for  who 
wants   to   remember   the   degradation  of   what   has  »  REFLECTION-. 
been  noble,  the  foulness  of  what  has  been  fair  ?  "  foolish  weanethie 

every  one  of  them 

'Arry  *  in  the  "  Times."      ^Cta0uttehcfc°wethnot; 
"  Disastrous  failures."  —  F.  Wedmore.  «jfg 

"  Failures  that  are  complete  and  failures  that  are 
partial."—  F.  Wedmore. 

11  A  publicity  rarely  bestowed  upon  failures  at  all." 
F.  Wedmwe^  Nineteenth  Century. 

"  Valla  ce  que  Ton  dit  de  met 
Dans  la  Gazette  de  Hollar.de" 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  105 

"  Therefore  is  judgment  far  from  us,  neither  doth 
justice  overtake  us.  We  wait  for  light,  but  behold 
obscurity  ;  for  brightness,  but  we  walk  in  darkness." 

"  We  grope  for  the  wall  like  the  blind,  and  we  grope 
as  if  we  had  no  eyes  ;  we  stumble  at  noonday  as  in  the 
night." 

"We  roar  all  like  bears." 


106  THE  GENTLE  ART 


Taking  the  Bait 


the  simple  process  of  applying  snippets  of  pub- 
lished sentences  to  works  of  art  to  which  the  original 
The  Academy,  comments  were  never  meant  to  have  reference,  and 

Feb.  24, 1883. 

sometimes,  too,  by  lively  misquotation — as  when  a 
writer  who  "  did  not  wish  to  understate  "  Mr. 
Whistler's  merit  is  made  to  say  he  "  did  not  wish  to 
understand"  it,  Mr.  Whistler  has  counted  on  good- 
humouredly  confounding  criticism.  He  has  entertained 
but  not  persuaded ;  and  if  his  literary  efforts  with  the 
scissors  and  the  paste-pot  might  be  taken  with  any 
seriousness  we  should  have  to  rebuke  him  for  his 
feat.  But  we  are  far  from  doing  so.  He  desired,  it 
seems,  to  say  that  he  and  Velasquez  were  both  above 
criticism.  An  artist  in  literature  would  have  said  it 
in  fewer  words  ;  but  indulgence  may  fairly  be  granted 
to  the  less  assured  methods  of  an  amateur  in  author- 
ship. 

F.  WEDMORE. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  107 


An  Apology 


, — There  are  those,  they  tell  me,  who  have 
the  approval  of  the  people — and  live !     For  them  the 
succes  d'estime  ;  for  me,  0  Atlas,  the  succes  d!  execration 
— the  only   tribute   possible   from   the  Mob   to   the 
The  world.      Master !    This  I  have  now  nobly  achieved.    Glissons  ! 

Feb.  28.  1883.  J 

In  the  hour  of  my  triumph  let  me  not  neglect  my 
ambulance. 

Mr.  Frederick  Wedmore — a  critic — one  of  the 
wounded — complains  that  by  dexterously  substituting 
"  understand"  for  "  understate,"  I  have  dealt  unfairly 
by  him,  and  wrongly  rendered  his  writing.  Let  me 
hasten  to  acknowledge  the  error,  and  apologise.  My 
carelessness  is  culpable,  and  the  misprint  without 
excuse  ;  for  naturally  I  have  all  along  known,  and 
the  typographer  should  have  been  duly  warned,  that 
with  Mr.  Wedmore,  as  with  his  brethren,  it  is 
always  a  matter  of  understating,  and  not  at  all  one 
of  understanding. 


io8    THE  GENTLE  ART  OF  MAKING  ENEMIES 

Quant  aux  autres — well,  with  the  exception  of 
"  'Any,"  who  really  is  dead,  they  will  recover.  Scalped 
and  disfigured,  they  are  not  mortally  hurt ;  and — 
would  you  believe  it? — possessed  with  an  infinite 
capacity  for  continuing,  they  have  already  returned, 
nothing  doubting,  to  their  limited  literature,  of  which 
I  have  exhausted  the  stock. — Yours,  en  passant. 


CHELSEA. 


I"  Jeux  Innocent*" 


no  THE  GENTLE  ART 


"  Jeux  Innocents  "  in  Tite  Street 


.  WHISTLER'S  final  breakfast  of  the  year  was 
given  on  Sunday  last.  The  hospitable  master  has 
fresh  wonders  in  store  for  his  friends  in  the  new 
year;  for,  not  content  with  treating  his  next-door 
critic  after  the  manner  that  Portuguese  sailors  treat 
the  Apostle  Judas  at  Easter-tide,  he  is  said  to  have 
perfected  a  new  instrument  of  torture.  This  inven- 
tion is  of  the  nature  of  a  camera  obscura,  whereby, 
by  a  crafty  "  arrangement  "  of  reflectors,  he  promises 
to  display  in  his  own  studio,  to  his  friends,  "  'Arry  at 
the  White  House,"  under  all  the  appropriate  circum- 
stances that  might  be  expected  of  a  "  Celebrity  at 
Home." 

ATLAS. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  in 


A  Line  from  the  Land's  End 


DELIGHTFUL !  Atlas— I  have  read  here,  to  the 
idle  miners — culture  in  their  manners  curiously,  at  this 
season,  blended  with  intoxication — your  brilliant  and  TJu 
graphic  description  of  'Arry  at  the  other  end  of  my  Jan' 2>  1 
arrangement  in  telescopic  lenses. 

The  sensitive  sons  of  the  Cornish  caves,  by  instinct 
refined,  revel  in  the  writhing  of  the  resurrected 
'Arry. 

Our  natures  are  evidently  of  the  same  dainty 
brutality.  Cruelty  to  the  critic  after  demise  is 
a  revelation,  and  the  story  of  'Arry  pursued  with 
post-mortem,  and,  for  Sunday  demonstration,  kept 
by  galvanism  from  his  grave,  is  to  them  most 
fascinating. 

I  have,  my  sympathetic  Atlas,  the  success  that 
might  have  been  Edgar  Poe's,  could  he  have  read  to 
such  an  audience  the  horrible  "Case  of  Mr.  Wal- 
demar." 


112  THE  GENTLE  ART 

My  invention  and  machinery,  by  the  way,  these 
warm-hearted  people  believe  to  be  something  after 
the  fashion  of  their  own  sluice-boxes — and  I  dare  not 
undeceive  them. 

Atlas,  je  te  la  souhaite  bonne  et  heureme  ! 


ST.  IVES,  CORNWALL, 
Dec.  27. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  113 


The  Easy  Expert 


, — They  have  sent  me  the  Spectator — a  paper 
upon  which  our  late  'Arry  lingered  to  the  last  as  art 
critic.  In  its  columns  I  find  a  correspondent  calling 
aloud  for  our  kind  intervention.  Present  me,  brave 
Atlas,  to  the  editor,  that  I  may  say  to  him : 

"  GOOD  SIRJ — '  Your  Reviewer '  is  doubtless  my  un- 
buried  'Arry.  Why,  then,  should  'his  mistaking  a 
photogravure  reproduction  of  a  pen-and-ink  drawing 
by  Samuel  Palmer  for  a  finished  etching  by  the  same 
hand  '  seem,  '  to  say  the  least  of  it,  astounding '  ? 

"  Not  at  all !  By  this  sort  of  thing  was  he  known 
among  us,  poor  chap — and  so  was  he  our  fresh  gladness 
and  continued  surprise." 

"  Did  I  not  make  historical  his  enchanting  encounter 
with  Mr.  Herkomer's  water-colour  drawing  of  Mr. 
Ruskin  at  the  Grosvenor,  which  he  described  as  the 
*  first  oil  portrait  we  have  of  the  great  master '  ? 
Amazing  that,  if  you  like  ! 

H 


114  THE  GENTLE  ART 

"  Do  not  all  remember  how  we  leaped  for  joy  at  the 
reading  of  it  ?  " 

"  Even  Atlas  himself  laughed  aloud,  and,  handi- 
capped as  he  is  with  the  World,  and  weighted  with 
wisdom,  danced  upon  his  plinth,  a  slow  measure  of 
reckless  acquiescence,  as  I  set  down  in  the  chronicles 
of  all  time  that  'Arry,  '  unable,  by  mere  sense  of 
smell,  to  distinguish  between  oil  and  water-colour, 
might  at  least  have  inquired  ;  and  that  either  the 
fireman  or  the  guardian  in  the  Gallery  could  have 
told  him  not  to  blunder  in  the  Times.' " 

"But  no,  he  never  would  ask — he  liked  his  pot- 
shots at  things ;  it  used  to  give  a  sort  of  sporting 
interest  to  his  speculations  upon  pictures.  And  so 
he  was  ever  obstinate — or  any  one  at  the  Fine  Art 
Society  would  have  told  him  the  difference  between 
an  etching  and  a  photograph. — I  am,  good  sir,  yours, 
etc." 

Atlas,  &  bientot. 


ST.  IVES,  CORNWALL, 

Jan.  25,  1884. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  115 


Propositions — No.  2 

J±  PICTURE  is  finished  when  all  trace  of  the  means 
used  to  bring  about  the  end  has  disappeared. 

To  say  of  a  picture,  as  is  often  said  in  its  praise, 
that  it  shows  great  and  earnest  labour,  is  to  say  that 
it  is  incomplete  and  unfit  for  view. 

Industry  in  Art  is  a  necessity — not  a  virtue — and 
any  evidence  of  the  same,  in  the  production,  is  a 
blemish,  not  a  quality ;  a  proof,  not  of  achievement? 
but  of  absolutely  insufficient  work,  for  work  alone  will 
efface  the  footsteps  of  work. 

The  work  of  the  master  reeks  not  of  the  sweat  of 
the  brow — suggests  no  effort — and  is  finished  from  its 
beginning. 

The  completed  task  of  perseverance  only,  has  never 
been  begun,  and  will  remain  unfinished  to  eternity — a 
monument  of  goodwill  and  foolishness. 

"  There  is  one  that  laboureth,  and  taketh  pains, 
and  maketh  haste,  and  is  so  much  the  more  behind." 


ii6    THE  GENTLE  ART  OF  MAKING  ENEMIES 

The  masterpiece  should  appear  as  the  flower  to  the 
painter — perfect  in  its  bud  as  in  its  bloom — with  no 
reason  to  explain  its  presence — no  mission  to  fulfil — 
a  joy  to  the  artist — a  delusion  to  the  philanthropist — 
a  puzzle  to  the  botanist — an  accident  of  sentiment  and 
alliteration  to  the  literary  man. 


[A  Hint 


n8  THE  GENTLE  ART 


A  Hint 


p LEASE  to  take  note,  my  dear  Mr.  James  McN. 
W.,  that  vour  "  dearest  foe."  'Arry,  is  a  candidate  for 

Feb.  17, 1886.  J 

the  Slade  Chair  of  Art  in  the  University  of  Cambridge ! 
This  is  said  to  be  the  age  of  testimonials.  A  few 
words  from  you,  my  dear  James,  addressed  to  the 
distinguished  trustees,  could  not  fail  to  give  'Arry  a 
lift. 

ATLAS. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  119 


A  Distinction 


you  provoke  me!     The   wisdom  of  ages 
means  but  little — I  have  said  it.     Faut  etre  "  dans  le 
mouvement"  you  dear  old  thing,  or  you  are  absolutely 
out  of  it ! 
The  world.         You  are  misled,  and  mistake  mere   fact  for  the 

Feb.  24,  1886. 

fiction  of  history,  which  is  truth — and  instructs — and 
is  beautiful. 

Now,  in  truth,  'Arry  is  dead — very  dead. 

Did  I  not,  from  between  your  shoulders,  sally  forth 
and  slay  him? — thereby  instructing — and  making 
history — and  avenging  the  beautiful. 

If  within  the  distant  Ai'den,  you  can't  descry, 
"with  sorrow  laden,"  the  tiny  soul  of  'Arry,  it  is 
because  you  no  longer  read  your  own  small  print,  my 
Atlas  !  and  the  microbes  of  Eternity  escape  you. 

Moreover,  are  not  these  things  written  in  the 
chronicles  of  Chelsea,  adown  whose  Embankment  I 
still,  Achilles-like,  do  drag  the  body  of  an  afternoon  ? 


120  THE  GENTLE  ART 

This  practice  has  doubtless  completed  the  confusion 
of  the  wearied  ones  of  Slade — and  they  of  the  Schools, 
accustomed  to  the  culture  of  Colvin,  whose  polished 
scalp  I  with  difficulty  collected,  ceasing  to  distinguish 
between  the  quick  and  the  dead,  will  probably  prop 
up  our  late  'Arry  as  professor,  long  to  remain 
undetected  in  the  Chair ! 

Atlas;  tais-toi  ! — Let  us  not  interfere  ! 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  121 


A  Document 


, — I  have  come  upon  the  posthumous  paper 
of  'Arry — his  certificate  of  character,  and  printed  pre- 
tension to  the  Professorship  of  Slade — and  0  !  the 
shame  of  it — and  the  indiscretion  of  it ! 

Read,  Atlas,  and  seek  in  your  past  for  a  parallel : 

"  To  the  Electors  of  the  Slade  Professor  of  Fine  Art 
"for  the  University  of  Cambridge. — My  Lord  and 
"  Gentlemen, — I  beg  to  submit  my  name  as  a  candidate 
"  for  the  Slade  Professorship,  and  enclose  herewith  a 
"  few  testimonials.  .  .  I  have  also  received  favourable 
"letters  from  the  following  gentlemen  .  .  .  Alma- 
"  Tadema,  R.A.,  Marcus  Stone,  R.A.,  Briton  Riviere, 
"  R.  A.,  John  Brett,  A.R. A.,  ...  and  others." 

What!  is  the  Immaculate  impure? — and  shall  the 
Academy  have  coquetted  with  the  unclean  ? 

Had  Alma  the  classic  aught  in  common  with  this 
'Arry  of  commerce  ? 

Believe  him  not,  Atlas ! 


122  THE  GENTLE  ART 

0  Alma !  0  Ichabod  !  forgive  us  the  thought  of  it ! 

Surely  also  the  pots  of  "  the  Forty  "  do  boil  before 
the  Lord,  and  the  flames  of  the  chosen  were  unfanned 
by  the  feather  of  'Arry's  goose-quill. 

Again: 

"  My  experience  in  art  matters  has  been  briefly  as 
"  follows : 

"  I  have  worked  at  the  subject  continually  in  Italy, 
"  having  for  that  purpose  travelled  and  stayed  in  that 
"  country — at  least  a  dozen  times.  I  have  also  painted 
"  in  France,  Germany,  and  Belgium,  in  which  last- 
"  mentioned  country  I  was  in  a  portrait  painter's 
"  studio." — (A  portrait  by  'Arry  !) 

"  There  are  several  pictures  of  mine  being  exhibited 
"  in  London  at  the  present  time."  (!  !  !) 

"  I  have  also  executed  a  good  deal  of  distemper.  .  .  . 

"  I  have  also  travelled  for  a  year  in  the  East/' 
('Arry  in  the  East ! !) 

"  I  have  had,  as  a  lecturer  upon  Art,  considerable 
"  experience — at  working-men's  clubs —  .  .  .  and  at 
"  the  Rev.  Stopford  A.  Brooke's  College  for  men, 
"  women,  and  children. 

"  For  the  last  ten  years  I  have  written  every  article 
"  upon  art  which  has  appeared  in  the  Spectator  news- 
"  paper  " — a  confession,  Atlas,  clearly  a  confession ! 
"  In  1880,  I  wrote  a  critical  life  of  Giotto" — he  did 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  123 

indeed,  Atlas  ! — I  saw  it — a  book  in  blue — his  own, 
and  Reckitt's — all  bold  with  brazen  letters : 

"  GIOTTO  BY  'ARRY  " 

— "  of  which  two  editions  were  published  "—bless  him 
— and  then  I  killed  him  ! 

and,  "I  am,  Gentlemen, 

"  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"  'ARRY,  M.A. 
"  Trin.  Coll.  Camb.,  Esquire." 

The  pride  of  it! 


I24  THE  GENTLE  ART 


Sacrilege 


Q  ATLAS  !     What  of  the  "  Society  for  the  Preser- 
vation of  Beautiful  Buildings  "  ? 

Where  is  Buskin  ?    and  what  do  Morris  and  Sir  upon  the  Aitera- 

tions  of  the  "  White 

William  Drake? 

For,  behold !  beside  the  Thames,  the  work  of  dese- 
rt world,     cration  continues,  and  the  "  White  House  "  swarms 

Oct.  17, 1883 

with  the  mason  of  contract. 

The  architectural  galbe  that  was  the  joy  of  the 
few,  and  the  bedazement  of  "  the  Board,"  crumbles 
beneath  the  pick,  as  did  the  north  side  of  St. 
Mark's,  and  history  is  wiped  from  the  face  of 
Chelsea. 

Shall  no  one  interfere  ?  Shall  the  interloper,  even 
after  his  death,  prevail  ? 

Shall  'Arry,  whom  I  have  hewn  down,  still  live 
among  us  by  outrage  of  this  kind,  and  impose  his 
memory  upon  our  pavement  by  the  public  perpetration 
of  his  posthumous  philistinism  ? 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  125 

Shall  the  birthplace  of  art  become  the  tomb  of  its 
parasite  in  Tite  Street  ? 

See  to  it,  Atlas !  lest,  when  Time,  the  healer  of  all 
the  wounds  I  have  inflicted,  shall  for  me  have  exacted 
those  honours  the  prophet  may  not  expect  while  alive, 
and  the  inevitable  blue  disc,  imbedded  in  the  walls, 
shall  proclaim  that  "  Here  once  dwelt "  the  gentle 
Master  of  all  that  is  flippant  and  fine  in  Art,  some 
anxious  student,  reading,  fall  out  with  Providence  in 
his  vain  effort  to  reconcile  such  joyous  reputation 
with  the  dank  and  hopeless  appearance  of  this  "  model 
lodging,"  bequeathed  to  the  people  by  the  arrogance 
of  'Arry. 


126  THE  GENTLE  ART 


The  Red  Rag 


should  not  I  call  my  works  "symphonies,"  "Mr.  wkistur  at 
"  arrangements,"  "  harmonies,"  and  "  nocturnes  "  ?     I  The  world, 

May  22, 1878. 

know  that  many  good  people  think  my  nomenclature 
funny  and  myself  "  eccentric."  Yes,  "  eccentric  "  is 
the  adjective  they  find  for  me. 

The  vast  majority  of  English  folk  cannot  and  will 
not  consider  a  picture  as  a  picture,  apart  from  any 
story  which  it  may  be  supposed  to  tell. 

My  picture  of  a  "  Harmony  in  Grey  and  Gold  "  is 
an  illustration  of  my  meaning — a  snow  scene  with  a 
single  black  figure  and  a  lighted  tavern.  I  care  nothing 
for  the  past,  present,  or  future  of  the  black  figure, 
placed  there  because  the  black  was  wanted  at  that  spot. 
All  that  I  know  is  that  my  combination  of  grey  and 
gold  is  the  basis  of  the  picture.  Now  this  is  pre- 
cisely what  my  friends  cannot  grasp. 

They  say,  "  Why  not  call  it  '  Trotty  Veck,'  and  sell 
it  for  a  round  harmony  of  golden  guineas  ?  " — naively 
acknowledging  that,  without  baptism,  there  is  no 
.  market! 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  127 

But  even  commercially  this  stocking  of  your  shop 
with  the  goods  of  another  would  be  indecent — custom 
alone  has  made  it  dignified.  Not  even  the  popularity 
of  Dickens  should  be  invoked  to  lend  an  adventitious 
aid  to  art  of  another  kind  from  his.  I  should  hold  it 
a  vulgar  and  meretricious  trick  to  excite  people  about 
Trotty  Veck  when,  if  they  really  could  care  for  pic- 
torial art  at  all,  they  would  know  that  the  picture 
should  have  its  own  merit,  and  not  depend  upon 
dramatic,  or  legendary,  or  local  interest. 

As  music  is  the  poetry  of  sound,  so  is  painting  the 
poetry  of  sight,  and  the  subject-matter  has  nothing  to 
do  with  harmony  of  sound  or  of  colour. 

The  great  musicians  knew  this.  Beethoven  and  the 
rest  wrote  music — simply  music ;  symphony  in  this 
key,  concerto  or  sonata  in  that. 

On  F  or  G  they  constructed  celestial  harmonies — 
as  harmonies — as  combinations,  evolved  from  the 
chords  of  F  or  G  and  their  minor  correlatives. 

This  is  pure  music  as  distinguished  from  airs — 
commonplace  and  vulgar  in  themselves,  but  interest- 
ing from  their  associations,  as,  for  instance,  "  Yankee 
Doodle,"  or  "  Partant  pour  la  Syrie." 

Art  should  be  independent  of  all  clap-trap — should 
stand  alone,  and  appeal  to  the  artistic  sense  of  eye  or 
ear,  without  confounding  this  with  emotions  entirely 
foreign  to  it,  as  devotion,  pity,  love,  patriotism,  and 


128  THE  GENTLE  ART 

the  like.  All  these  have  no  kind  of  concern  with  it, 
and  that  is  why  I  insist  on  calling  my  works  "  arrange- 
ments "  and  "  harmonies." 

Take  the  picture  of  my  mother,  exhibited  at  the 
Royal  Academy  as  an  "  Arrangement  in  Grey  and 
Black."  Now  that  is  what  it  is.  To  me  it  is  in- 
teresting as  a  picture  of  my  mother ;  but  what  can  or 
ought  the  public  to  care  about  the  identity  of  the 
portrait  ? 

The  imitator  is  a  poor  kind  of  creature.  If  the  man 
who  paints  only  the  tree,  or  flower,  or  other  surface 
he  sees  before  him  were  an  artist,  the  king  of  artists 
would  be  the  photographer.  It  is  for  the  artist  to  do 
something  beyond  this  :  in  portrait  painting  to  put  on 
canvas  something  more  than  the  face  the  model  wears 
for  that  one  day ;  to  paint  the  man,  in  short,  as  well 
as  his  features  ;  in  arrangement  of  colours  to  treat  a 
flower  as  his  key,  not  as  his  model. 

This  is  now  understood  indifferently  well — at  least 
by  dressmakers.  In  every  costume  you  see  attention 
is  paid  to  the  key-note  of  colour  which  runs  through 
the  composition,  as  the  chant  of  the  Anabaptists 
through  the  Prophete,  or  the  Huguenots'  hymn  in  the 
opera  of  that  name. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  129 


A  Rebuke 


Birmingham  election,  no  Chamberlain  speech, 
no  Reynolds  or  Dispatch  article,  could  bring  the 
aristocracy  more  strongly  into  ridicule  and  con- 
tempt than  does  the  coarsely  coloured  cartoon  of 
"Newmarket"  accompanying  the  winter  number  of 
Vanity  Fair.  From  it  one  learns  that  the  Dukes, 
Duchesses,  and  turf  persons  generally,  frequent- 
ing the  Heath,  are  a  set  of  blob-headed  stumpy 
dwarfs. 

ATLAS. 


i3o    THE  GENTLE  ART  OF  MAKING  ENEMIES 


tl  Les  points  sur  les  z" 


J  AGREE  with  you,  0  Atlas  of  ages,  that  complete- 
ness is  a  reason  for  ceasing  to  exist :  but  even  indisrna-  The  world, 

Dec.  16,  i88s- 

tion  might  be  less  vague  than  is  your  righteous  anger 
at  Vanity's  Christmas  cartoon.  Surely  you  might 
have  helped  the  people,  who  scarcely  distinguish 
between  the  original  and  impudent  imitation,  to  know 
that  this  faded  leaf  is  not  from  the  book  of  Carlo 
Pellegrini,  the  master  who  has  taught  them  all — that 
they  can  never  learn  ? 


MR.   WHISTLER'S 

"TEN  O'CLOCK" 


London,   1888 


Delivered  in  London 

Feb.  20,  1885 


At  Cambridge 

March  24 


At  Oxford 
April  30 


THE  GENTLE  ART  OF  MAKING  ENEMIES     135 


LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  : 

It  is  with  great  hesitation  and  much  misgiving 
that  I  appear  before  you,  in  the  character  of  The 
Preacher. 

If  timidity  be  at  all  allied  to  the  virtue  modesty, 
and  can  find  favour  in  your  eyes,  I  pray  you,  for  the 
sake  of  that  virtue,  accord  me  your  utmost  indul- 
gence. 

I  would  plead  for  my  want  of  habit,  did  it  not  seem 
preposterous,  judging  from  precedent,  that  aught  save 
the  most  efficient  effrontery  could  be  ever  expected  in 
connection  with  my  subject — for  I  will  not  conceal 
from  you  that  I  mean  to  talk  about  Art.  Yes,  Art — 
that  has  of  late  become,  as  far  as  much  discussion  and 
writing  can  make  it,  a  sort  of  common  topic  for  the 
tea-table. 

Art  is  upon  the  Town  ! — to  be  chucked  under  the 
chin  by  the  passing  gallant — to  be  enticed  within  the 
gates  of  the  householder — to  be  coaxed  into  company, 
as  a  proof  of  culture  and  refinement. 


J36  THE  GENTLE  ART 

If  familiarity  can  breed  contempt,  certainly  Art — 
or  what  is  currently  taken  for  it — has  been  brought 
to  its  lowest  stage  of  intimacy. 

The  people  have  been  harassed  with  Art  in  every 
guise,  and  vexed  with  many  methods  as  to  its  en- 
durance. They  have  been  told  how  they  shall  love 
Art,  and  live  with  it.  Their  homes  have  been 
invaded,  their  walls  covered  with  paper,  their  very 
dress  taken  to  task — until,  roused  at  last,  bewildered 
and  filled  with  the  doubts  and  discomforts  of  senseless 
suggestion,  they  resent  such  intrusion,  and  cast  forth 
the  false  prophets,  who  have  brought  the  very  name 
of  the  beautiful  into  disrepute,  and  derision  upon 
themselves. 

Alas  !  ladies  and  gentlemen,  Art  has  been  maligned. 
She  has  naught  in  common  with  such  practices.  She 
is  a  goddess  of  dainty  thought — reticent  of  habit, 
abjuring  all  obtrusiveness,  purposing  in  no  way  to 
better  others. 

She  is,  withal,  selfishly  occupied  with  her  own  per- 
fection only — having  no  desire  to  teach — seeking  and 
finding  the  beautiful  in  all  conditions  and  in  all 
times,  as  did  her  high  priest,  Rembrandt,  when  he 
saw  picturesque  grandeur  and  noble  dignity  in  the 
Jews'  quarter  of  Amsterdam,  and  lamented  not  that 
its  inhabitants  were  not  Greeks. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  137 

As  did  Tintoret  and  Paul  Veronese,  among  the 
Venetians,  while  not  halting  to  change  the  brocaded 
silks  for  the  classic  draperies  of  Athens. 

As  did,  at  the  Court  of  Philip,  Velasquez,  whose 
Infantas,  clad  in  insesthetic  hoops,  are,  as  works  of 
Art,  of  the  same  quality  as  the  Elgin  marbles. 

No  reformers  were  these  great  men — no  improvers 
of  the  way  of  others  !  Their  productions  alone  were 
their  occupation,  and,  filled  with  the  poetry  of  their 
science,  they  required  not  to  alter  their  surroundings 
— for,  as  the  laws  of  their  Art  were  revealed  to  them 
they  saw,  in  the  development  of  their  work,  that  real 
beauty  which,  to  them,  was  as  much  a  matter  of  cer- 
tainty and  triumph  as  is  to  the  astronomer  the  veri- 
fication of  the  result,  foreseen  with  the  light  given 
to  him  alone.  In  all  this,  their  world  was  completely 
severed  from  that  of  their  fellow-creatures  with  whom 
sentiment  is  mistaken  for  poetry ;  and  for  whom  there 
is  no  perfect  work  that  shall  not  be  explained  by  the 
benefit  conferred  upon  themselves. 

Humanity  takes  the  place  of  Art,  and  God's 
creations  are  excused  by  their  usefulness.  Beauty  is 
confounded  with  virtue,  and,  before  a  work  of  Art,  it 
is  asked  :  "  What  good  shall  it  do  ?  " 

Hence  it  is  that  nobility  of  action,  in  this  life,  is 
hopelessly  linked  with  the  merit  of  the  work  that 


138  THE  GENTLE  ART 

portrays  it ;  and  thus  the  people  have  acquired  the 
habit  of  looking,  as  who  should  say,  not  at  a  picture, 
but  through  it,  at  some  human  fact,  that  shall,  or 
shall  not,  from  a  social  point  of  view,  better  their 
mental  or  moral  state.  So  we  have  come  to  hear  of 
the  painting  that  elevates,  and  of  the  duty  of  the 
painter — of  the  picture  that  is  full  of  thought,  and  of 
the  panel  that  merely  decorates. 


A  favourite  faith,  dear  to  those  who  teach,  is 
that  certain  periods  were  especially  artistic,  and 
that  nations,  readily  named,  were  notably  lovers 
of  Art. 

So  we  are  told  that  the  Greeks  were,  as  a  people, 
worshippers  of  the  beautiful,  and  that  in  the  fifteenth 
century  Art  was  engrained  in  the  multitude. 

That  the  great  masters  lived  in  common  under- 
standing with  their  patrons — that  the  early  Italians 
were  artists — all — and  that  the  demand  for  the  lovely 
thing  produced  it. 

That  we,  of  to-day,  in  gross  contrast  to  this 
Arcadian  purity,  call  for  the  ungainly,  and  obtain 
the  ugly. 

That,  could  we  but  change  our  habits  and  climate 
— were  we  willing  to  wander  in  groves — could  we  be 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  139 

roasted  out  of  broadcloth — were  we  to  do  without 
haste,  and  journey  without  speed,  we  should  again 
require  the  spoon  of  Queen  Anne,  and  pick  at  our 
peas  with  the  fork  of  two  prongs.  And  so,  for  the 
flock,  little  hamlets  grow  near  Hammersmith,  and  the 
steam  horse  is  scorned. 

Useless !  quite  hopeless  and  false  is  the  effort ! — 
built  upon  fable,  and  all  because  '*  a  wise  man  has 
uttered  a  vain  thing  and  filled  his  belly  with  the  East 
wind." 

Listen !     There  never  was  an  artistic  period. 

There  never  was  an  Art-loving  nation. 

In  the  beginning,  man  went  forth  each  day — some 
to  do  battle,  some  to  the  chase  ;  others,  again,  to  dig 
and  to  delve  in  the  field — all  that  they  might  gain 
and  live,  or  lose  and  die.  Until  there  was  found 
among  them  one,  differing  from  the  rest,  whose 
pursuits  attracted  him  not,  and  so  he  stayed  by  the 
tents  with  the  women,  and  traced  strange  devices 
with  a  burnt  stick  upon  a  gourd. 

This  man,  who  took  no  joy  in  the  ways  of  his 
brethren — who  cared  not  for  conquest,  and  fretted 
in  the  field — this  designer  of  quaint  patterns — this 
deviser  of  the  beautiful — who  perceived  in  Nature 
about  him  curious  curvings,  as  faces  are  seen  in  the 
fire — this  dreamer  apart,  was  the  first  artist. 


1 40  THE  GENTLE  ART 

And  when,  from  the  field  and  from  afar,  there 
came  back  the  people,  they  took  the  gourd — and  drank 
from  out  of  it. 

And  presently  there  came  to  this  man  another — 
and,  in  time,  others — of  like  nature,  chosen  by  the 
Gods — and  so  they  worked  together  ;  and  soon  they 
fashioned,  from  the  moistened  earth,  forms  resembling 
the  gourd.  And  with  the  power  of  creation,  the 
heirloom  of  the  artist,  presently  they  went  beyond 
the  slovenly  suggestion  of  Nature,  and  the  first  vase 
was  born,  in  beautiful  proportion. 

And  the  toilers  tilled,  and  were  athirst ;  and  the 
heroes  returned  from  fresh  victories,  to  rejoice  and  to 
feast ;  and  all  drank  alike  from  the  artists'  goblets, 
fashioned  cunningly,  taking  no  note  the  while  of  the 
craftsman's  pride,  and  understanding  not  his  glory  in 
his  work ;  drinking  at  the  cup,  not  from  choice,  not 
from  a  consciousness  that  it  was  beautiful,  but  because, 
forsooth,  there  was  none  other  ! 

And  time,  with  more  state,  brought  more  capacity 
for  luxury,  and  it  became  well  that  men  should  dwell 
in  large  houses,  and  rest  upon  couches,  and  eat  at 
tables ;  whereupon  the  artist,  with  his  artificers, 
built  palaces,  and  filled  them  with  furniture,  beautiful 
in  proportion  and  lovely  to  look  upon. 

And  the  people  lived  in  marvels  of  art — and  ate  and 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  141 

drank  out  of  masterpieces — for  there  was  nothing 
else  to  eat  and  to  drink  out  of,  and  no  bad  building 
to  live  in;  no  article  of  daily  life,  of  luxury,  or  of 
necessity,  that  had  not  been  handed  down  from 
the  design  of  the  master,  and  made  by  his  work- 
men. 

And  the  people  questioned  not,  and  had  nothing  to 
say  in  the  matter. 

So  Greece  was  in  its  splendour,  and  Art  reigned 
supreme — by  force  of  fact,  not  by  election — and  there 
was  no  meddling  from  the  outsider.  The  mighty 
warrior  would  no  more  have  ventured  to  offer  a  design 
for  the  temple  of  Pallas  Athene  than  would  the  sacred 
poet  have  proffered  a  plan  for  constructing  the 
catapult. 

And  the  Amateur  was  unknown — and  the  Dilettante 
undreamed  of ! 

And  history  wrote  on,  and  conquest  accompanied 
civilisation,  and  Art  spread,  or  rather  its  products 
were  carried  by  the  victors  among  the  vanquished 
from  one  country  to  another.  And  the  customs  of 
cultivation  covered  the  face  of  the  earth,  so  that  all 
peoples  continued  to  use  what  the  artist  alone 
produced. 

And  centuries  passed  in  this  using,  and  the  world 
was  flooded  with  all  that  was  beautiful,  until  there 


i42  THE  GENTLE  ART 

arose  a  new  class,  who  discovered  the  cheap,  and  fore- 
saw fortune  in  the  facture  of  the  sham. 

Then  sprang  into  existence  the  tawdry,  the  common, 
the  gewgaw. 

The  taste  of  the  tradesman  supplanted  the  science 
of  the  artist,  and  what  was  born  of  the  million  went 
back  to  them,  and  charmed  them,  for  it  was  after 
their  own  heart ;  and  the  great  and  the  small,  the 
statesman  and  the  slave,  took  to  themselves  the 
abomination  that  was  tendered,  and  preferred  it — and 
have  lived  with  it  ever  since ! 

And  the  artist's  occupation  was  gone,  and  the 
manufacturer  and  the  huckster  took  his  place. 

And  now  the  heroes  filled  from  the  jugs  and  drank 
from  the  bowls — with  understanding — noting  the 
glare  of  their  new  bravery,  and  taking  pride  in  its 
worth. 

And  the  people — this  time — had  much  to  say  in  the 
matter — and  all  were  satisfied.  And  Birmingham 
and  Manchester  arose  in  their  might — and  Art  was 
relegated  to  the  curiosity  shop. 


Nature  contains  the  elements,  in  colour  and  form, 
of  all  pictures,  as  the  keyboard  contains  the  notes  of 
all  music. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  143 

But  the  artist  is  born  to  pick,  and  choose,  and 
group  with  science,  these  elements,  that  the  result 
may  be  beautiful — as  the  musician  gathers  his  notes, 
and  forms  his  chords,  until  he  bring  forth  from  chaos 
glorious  harmony. 

To  say  to  the  painter,  that  Nature  is  to  be  taken  as 
she  is,  is  to  say  to  the  player,  that  he  may  sit  on  the 
piano. 

That  Nature  is  always  right,  is  an  assertion, 
artistically,  as  untrue,  as  it  is  one  whose  truth  is 
universally  taken  for  granted.  Nature  is  very  rarely 
right,  to  such  an  extent  even,  that  it  might  almost  be 
said  that  Nature  is  usually  wrong :  that  is  to  say,  the 
condition  of  things  that  shall  bring  about  the  perfec- 
tion of  harmony  worthy  a  picture  is  rare,  and  not 
common  at  all. 

This  would  seem,  to  even  the  most  intelligent,  a 
doctrine  almost  blasphemous.  So  incorporated  with 
our  education  has  the  supposed  aphorism  become,  that 
its  belief  is  held  to  be  part  of  our  moral  being,  and 
the  words  themselves  have,  in  our  ear,  the  ring  of 
religion.  Still,  seldom  does  Nature  succeed  in 
producing  a  picture. 

The  sun  blares,  the  wind  blows  from  the  east,  the 
sky  is  bereft  c  cloud,  and  without,  all  is  of  iron. 
The  windows  of  the  Crystal  Palace  are  seen  from 


I44  THE  GENTLE  ART 

all  points  of  London.  The  holiday-maker  rejoices  in 
the  glorious  day,  and  the  painter  turns  aside  to  shut 
his  eyes. 

How  little  this  is  understood,  and  how  dutifully  the 
casual  in  Nature  is  accepted  as  sublime,  may  be 
gathered  from  the  unlimited  admiration  daily  produced 
by  a  very  foolish  sunset. 

The  dignity  of  the  snow-capped  mountain  is  lost  in 
distinctness,  but  the  joy  of  the  tourist  is  to  recognise 
the  traveller  on  the  top.  The  desire  to  see,  for  the 
sake  of  seeing  it,  is,  with  the  mass,  alone  the  one  to  be 
gratified,  hence  the  delight  in  detail. 

And  when  the  evening  mist  clothes  the  riverside 
with  poetry,  as  with  a  veil,  and  the  poor  buildings 
lose  themselves  in  the  dim  sky,  and  the  tall  chimneys 
become  campanili.  and  the  warehouses  are  palaces  in 
the  night,  and  the  whole  city  hangs  in  the  heavens, 
and  fairy-land  is  before  us — then  the  wayfarer 
hastens  home;  the  working  man  and  the  cultured 
one,  the  wise  man  and  the  one  of  pleasure,  cease 
to  understand,  as  they  have  ceased  to  see,  and  Nature, 
who,  for  once,  has  sung  in  tune,  sings  her  exquisite 
song  to  the  artist  alone,  her  son  and  her  master — 
her  son  in  that  he  loves  her,  her  master  in  that  he 
knows  her. 

To  him  her  secrets  are  unfolded,  to  him  her  lessons 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  145 

have  become  gradually  clear.  He  looks  at  her  flower, 
not  with  the  enlarging  lens,  that  he  may  gather  facts 
for  the  botanist,  but  with  the  light  of  the  one  who 
sees  in  her  choice  selection  of  brilliant  tones  and 
delicate  tints,  suggestions  of  future  harmonies. 

He  does  not  confine  himself  to  purposeless  copying, 
without  thought,  each  blade  of  grass,  as  commended 
by  the  inconsequent,  but,  in  the  long  curve  of  the 
narrow  leaf,  corrected  by  the  straight  tall  stem,  he 
learns  how  grace  is  wedded  to  dignity,  how  strength 
enhances  sweetness,  that  elegance  shall  be  the  result. 

In  the  citron  wing  of  the  pale  butterfly,  with  its 
dainty  spots  of  orange,  he  sees  before  him  the  stately 
halls  of  fair  gold,  with  their  slender  saffron  pillars, 
and  is  taught  how  the  delicate  drawing  high 
upon  the  walls  shall  be  traced  in  tender  tones  of 
orpiment,  and  repeated  by  the  base  in  notes  of  graver 
hue. 

In  all  that  is  dainty  and  lovable  he  finds  hints  for 
his  own  combinations,  and  thus  is  Nature  ever  his 
resource  and  always  at  his  service,  and  to  him  is 
naught  refused. 

Through  his  brain,  as  through  the  last  alembic,  is 
distilled  the  refined  essence  of  that  thought  which 
began  with  the  Gods,  and  which  they  left  him  to 
carry  out. 

K 


146  THE  GENTLE  ART 

Set  apart  by  them  to  complete  their  works,  he  pro- 
duces that  wondrous  thing  called  the  masterpiece, 
which  surpasses  in  perfection  all  that  they  have 
contrived  in  what  is  called  Nature ;  and  the  Gods 
stand  by  and  marvel,  and  perceive  how  far  away  more 
beautiful  is  the  Venus  of  Melos  than  was  their  own 
Eve. 


For  some  time  past,  the  unattached  writer  has 
become  the  middleman  in  this  matter  of  Art,  and  his 
influence,  while  it  has  widened  the  gulf  between  the 
people  and  the  painter,  has  brought  about  the  most 
complete  misunderstanding  as  to  the  aim  of  the  pic- 
ture. 

For  him  a  picture  is  more  or  less  a  hieroglyph  or 
symbol  of  story.  Apart  from  a  few  technical  terms, 
for  the  display  of  which  he  finds  an  occasion,  the  work 
is  considered  absolutely  from  a  literary  point  of  view  ; 
indeed,  from  what  other  can  he  consider  it  ?  And  in 
his  essays  he  deals  with  it  as  with  a  novel — a  history 
— or  an  anecdote.  He  fails  entirely  and  most  natur- 
ally to  see  its  excellences,  or  demerits — artistic — and 
so  degrades  Art,  by  supposing  it  a  method  of  bringing 
about  a  literary  climax. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  147 

It  thus,  in  his  hands,  becomes  merely  a  means  of 
perpetrating  something  further,  and  its  mission  is 
made  a  secondary  one,  even  as  a  means  is  second  to 
an  end. 

The  thoughts  emphasised,  noble  or  other,  are  inevit- 
ably attached  to  the  incident,  and  become  more  or  less 
noble,  according  to  the  eloquence  or  mental  quality  of 
the  writer,  who  looks  the  while,  with  disdain,  upon 
what  he  holds  as  "mere  execution" — a  matter 
belonging,  he  believes,  to  the  training  of  the  schools, 
and  the  reward  of  assiduity.  So  that,  as  he  goes  on 
with  his  translation  from  canvas  to  paper,  the  work 
becomes  his  own.  He  finds  poetry  where  he  would 
feel  it  were  he  himself  transcribing  the  event,  inven- 
tion in  the  intricacy  of  the  mise  en  scene,  and  noble 
philosophy  in  some  detail  of  philanthropy,  courage, 
modesty,  or  virtue,  suggested  to  him  by  the  occur- 
rence. 

All  this  might  be  brought  before  him,  and  his 
imagination  be  appealed  to,  by  a  very  poor  picture — 
indeed,  I  might  safely  say  that  it  generally  is. 

Meanwhile,  the  painter's  poetry  is  quite  lost  to  him 
— the  amazing  invention  that  shall  have  put  form 
and  colour  into  such  perfect  harmony,  that  exquisite- 
ness  is  the  result,  he  is  without  understanding — 
the  nobility  of  thought,  that  shall  have  given  the 


148  THE  GENTLE  ART 

artist's  dignity  to  the  whole,  says  to  him  absolutely 
uothing. 

So  that  his  praises  are  published,  for  virtues  we 
would  blush  to  possess — while  the  great  qualities,  that 
distinguish  the  one  work  from  the  thousand,  that 
make  of  the  masterpiece  the  thing  of  beauty  that  it  is 
— have  never  been  seen  at  all. 

That  this  is  so,  we  can  make  sure  of,  by  looking 
back  at  old  reviews  upon  past  exhibitions,  and  reading 
the  flatteries  lavished  upon  men  who  have  since  been 
forgotten  altogether — but,  upon  whose  works,  the 
language  has  been  exhausted,  in  rhapsodies — that  left 
nothing  for  the  National  Gallery. 

A  curious  matter,  in  its  effect  upon  the  judgment  of 
these  gentlemen,  is  the  accepted  vocabulary  of  poetic 
symbolism,  that  helps  them,  by  habit,  in  dealing  with 
Nature :  a  mountain,  to  them,  is  synonymous  with 
height — a  lake,  with  depth — the  ocean,  with  vastness 
— the  sun,  with  glory. 

So  that  a  picture  with  a  mountain,  a  lake,  and  an 
ocean — however  poor  in  paint — is  inevitably  "  lofty," 
"  vast,"  "  infinite,"  and  "  glorious  " — on  paper. 

There  are  those  also,  sombre  of  mien,  and  wise  with 
the  wisdom  of  books,  who  frequent  museums  and 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  149 

burrow  in  crypts  ;  collecting — comparing — compiling 
— classifying — contradicting. 

Experts  these — for  whom  a  date  is  an  accomplish- 
ment— a  hall-mark,  success  ! 

Careful  in  scrutiny  are  they,  and  conscientious  of 
judgment — establishing,  with  due  weight,  unimportant 
reputations— discovering  the  picture,  by  the  stain  on 
the  back — testing  the  torso,  by  the  leg  that  is  missing 
— filling  folios  with  doubts  on  the  way  of  that  limb — 
disputatious  and  dictatorial,  concerning  the  birthplace 
of  inferior  persons — speculating,  in  much  writing, 
upon  the  great  worth  of  bad  work. 

True  clerks  of  the  collection,  they  mix  memoranda 
with  ambition,  and,  reducing  Art  to  statistics,  they 
"file  "the  fifteenth  century,  and  "pigeon-hole"  the 
antique ! 

Then  the  Preacher  "  appointed  "  ! 

He  stands  in  high  places — harangues  and  holds 
forth. 

Sage  of  the  Universities — learned  in  many  matters, 
and  of  much  experience  in  all,  save  his  subject. 

Exhorting —  denouncing — direct  ing. 

Filled  with  wrath  and  earnestness. 

Bringing  powers  of  persuasion,  and  polish  of  lan- 
guage, to  prove — nothing. 


150  THE  GENTLE  ART 

Torn  with  much  teaching — having  naughtto  impart. 

Impressive — important — shallow. 

Defiant — distressed — desperate. 

Crying  out,  and  cutting  himself — while  the  gods 
hear  not. 

Gentle  priest  of  the  Philistine  withal,  again  he 
ambles  pleasantly  from  all  point,  and  through  many 
volumes,  escaping  scientific  assertion — "  babbles  of 
green  fields." 


So  Art  has  become  foolishly  confounded  with  educa- 
tion— that  all  should  be  equally  qualified. 

Whereas,  while  polish,  refinement,  culture,  and 
breeding,  are  in  no  way  arguments  for  artistic  result, 
it  is  also  no  reproach  to  the  most  finished  scholar  or 
greatest  gentleman  in  the  land  that  he  be  absolutely 
without  eye  for  painting  or  ear  for  music — that  in  his 
heart  he  prefers  the  popular  print  to  the  scratch  of 
Rembrandt's  needle,  or  the  songs  of  the  hall  to 
Beethoven's  "  C  minor  Symphony." 

Let  him  have  but  the  wit  to  say  so,  and  not  feel 
the  admission  a  proof  of  inferiority. 

Art  happens — no  hovel  is  safe  from  it,  no  Prince 
may  depend  upon  it,  the  vastest  intelligence  cannot 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  151 

bring  it  about,  and  puny  efforts  to  make  it  universal 
end  in  quaint  comedy,  and  coarse  farce. 

This  is  as  it  should  be — and  all  attempts  to  make  it 
otherwise  are  due  to  the  eloquence  of  the  ignorant, 
the  zeal  of  the  conceited. 

The  boundary-line  is  clear.  Far  from  me  to  propose 
to  bridge  it  over — that  the  pestered  people  be  pushed 
across.  No  !  I  would  save  them  from  further  fatigue. 
I  would  come  to  their  relief,  and  would  lift  from  their 
shoulders  this  incubus  of  Art. 

Why,  after  centuries  of  freedom  from  it,  and  indif- 
ference to  it,  should  it  now  be  thrust  upon  them  by 
the  blind — until  wearied  and  puzzled,  they  know  no 
longer  how  they  shall  eat  or  drink — how  they  shall 
sit  or  stand — or  wherewithal  they  shall  clothe  them- 
selves— without  afflicting  Art. 

But,  lo  !  there  is  much  talk  without ! 

Triumphantly  they  cry,  "  Beware  !  This  matter 
does  indeed  concern  us.  We  also  have  our  part  in  all 
true  Art ! — for,  remember  the  '  one  touch  of  Nature ' 
that ;  makes  the  whole  world  kin.' " 

True,  indeed.  But  let  not  the  unwary  jauntily 
suppose  that  Shakespeare  herewith  hands  him  his 
passport  to  Paradise,  and  thus  permits  him  speech 


152  THE  GENTLE  ART 

among  the  chosen.  Rather,  learn  that,  in  this  very 
sentence,  he  is  condemned  to  remain  without — to 
continue  with  the  common. 

This  one  chord  that  vibrates  with  all — this  "  one 
touch  of  Nature  "  that  calls  aloud  to  the  response  of 
each — that  explains  the  popularity  of  the  "  Bull  "  of 
Paul  Potter — that  excuses  the  price  of  Murillo's 
"Conception" — this  one  unspoken  sympathy  that 
pervades  humanity,  is — Vulgarity  ! 

Vulgarity — under  whose  fascinating  influence  "  the 
many  "  have  elbowed  "  the  few,"  and  the  gentle  circle 
of  Art  swarms  with  the  intoxicated  mob  of  mediocrity, 
whose  leaders  prate  and  counsel,  and  call  aloud,  where 
the  Gods  once  spoke  in  whisper  ! 

And  now  from  their  midst  the  Dilettante  stalks 
abroad.  The  amateur  is  loosed.  The  voice  of  the 
aesthete  is  heard  in  the  land,  and  catastrophe  is 
upon  us. 

The  meddler  beckons  the  vengeance  of  the  Gods, 
and  ridicule  threatens  the  fair  daughters  of  the  land. 

And  there  are  curious  converts  to  a  weird  culte,  in 
which  all  instinct  for  attractiveness — all  freshness 
and  sparkle — all  woman's  winsomeness — is  to  give 
way  to  a  strange  vocation  for  the  unlovely — and  this 
desecration  in  the  name  of  the  Graces ! 

Shall   this  gaunt,   ill-at-ease,  distressed,   abashed 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  153 

mixture  of  mauvaise  honte  and  desperate  assertion 
call  itself  artistic,  and  claim  cousinship  with  the 
artist — who  delights  in  the  dainty,  the  sharp,  bright 
gaiety  of  beauty  ? 

No ! — a  thousand  times  no  !  Here  are  no  connec- 
tions of  ours. 

We  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  them. 

Forced  to  seriousness, that  emptiness  maybe  hidden, 
they  dare  not  smile — 

While  the  artist,  in  fulness  of  heart  and  head,  is 
glad,  and  laughs  aloud,  and  is  happy  in  his  strength, 
and  is  merry  at  the  pompous  pretension — the  solemn 
silliness  that  surrounds  him. 

For  Art  and  Joy  go  together,  with  bold  openness, 
and  high  head,  and  ready  hand — fearing  naught,  and 
dreading  no  exposure. 

Know,  then,  all  beautiful  women,  that  we  are  with 
you.  Pay  no  heed,  we  pray  you,  to  this  outcry  of 
the  unbecoming — this  last  plea  for  the  plain. 

It  concerns  you  not. 

Your  own  instinct  is  near  the  truth — your  own  wit 
far  surer  guide  than  the  untaught  ventures  of  thick- 
heeled  Apollos. 

What !  will  you  up  and  follow  the  first  piper  that 
leads  you  down  Petticoat  Lane,  there,  on  a  Sabbath, 
to  gather,  for  the  week,  from  the  dull  rags  of 


154  THE  GENTLE  ART 

ages  wherewith  to  bedeck  yourselves  ?  that,  beneath 
your  travestied  awkwardness,  we  have  trouble  to 
find  your  own  dainty  selves  ?  Oh,  fie !  Is  the 
world,  then,  exhausted?  and  must  we  go  back 
because  the  thumb  of  the  mountebank  jerks  the 
other  way  ? 

Costume  is  not  dress. 

And  the  wearers  of  wardrobes  may  not  be  doctors 
of  taste ! 

For  by  what  authority  shall  these  be  pretty  masters  ? 
Look  well,  and  nothing  have  they  invented — nothing 
put  together  for  comeliness'  sake. 

Haphazard  from  their  shoulders  hang  the  garments 
of  the  hawker — combining  in  their  person  the  motley 
of  many  manners  with  the  medley  of  the  mummers' 
closet. 

Set  up  as  a  warning,  and  a  finger-post  of  danger, 
they  point  to  the  disastrous  effect  of  Art  upon  the 
middle  classes. 


Why  this  lifting  of  the  brow  in  deprecation  of  the 
present — this  pathos  in  reference  to  the  past  ? 
If  Art  be  rare  to-day,  it  was  seldom  heretofore. 
It  is  false,  this  teaching  of  decay. 
The  master  stands  in  no  relation  to  the  moment  at 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  155 

which  he  occurs — a  monument  of  isolation — hinting 
at  sadness — having  no  part  in  the  progress  of  his 
fellow-men. 

He  is  also  no  more  the  product  of  civilisation  than 
is  the  scientific  truth  asserted  dependent  upon  the 
wisdom  of  a  period.  The  assertion  itself  requires 
the  man  to  make  it.  The  truth  was  from  the 
beginning. 

So  Art  is  limited  to  the  infinite,  and  beginning 
there  cannot  progress. 

A  silent  indication  of  its  wayward  independence 
from  all  extraneous  advance,  is  in  the  absolutely  un- 
changed condition  and  form  of  implement  since  the 
beginning  of  things. 

The  painter  has  but  the  same  pencil — the  sculptor 
the  chisel  of  centuries. 

Colours  are  not  more  since  the  heavy  hangings  of 
night  were  first  drawn  aside,  and  the  loveliness  of 
light  revealed. 

Neither  chemist  nor  engineer  can  offer  new  elements 
of  the  masterpiece. 

False  again,  the  fabled  link  between  the  grandeur 
of  Art  and  the  glories  and  virtues  of  the  State,  for  Art 
feeds  not  upon  nations,  and  peoples  may  be  wiped 
from  the  face  of  the  earth,  but  Art  is. 


156  THE  GENTLE  ART 

It  is  indeed  high  time  that  we  cast  aside  the 
weary  weight  of  responsibility  and  co-partnership, 
and  know  that,  in  no  way,  do  our  virtues  minister 
to  its  worth,  in  no  way  do  our  vices  impede  its 
triumph ! 

How  irksome  !  how  hopeless  !  how  superhuman  the 
self-imposed  task  of  the  nation !  How  sublimely  vain 
the  belief  that  it  shall  live  nobly  or  art  perish. 

Let  us  reassure  ourselves,  at  our  own  option  is  our 
virtue.  Art  we  in  no  way  affect. 

A  whimsical  goddess,  and  a  capricious,  her  strong 
sense  of  joy  tolerates  no  dulness,  and,  live  we  never 
so  spotlessly,  still  may  she  turn  her  back  upon  us. 

As,  from  time  immemorial,  she  has  done  upon  the 
Swiss  in  their  mountains. 

What  more  worthy  people  !  Whose  every  Alpine 
gap  yawns  with  tradition,  and  is  stocked  with  noble 
story ;  yet,  the  perverse  and  scornful  one  will  none  of 
it,  and  the  sons  of  patriots  are  left  with  the  clock  that 
turns  the  mill,  and  the  sudden  cuckoo,  with  difficulty 
restrained  in  its  box. 

For  this  was  Tell  a  hero  !     For  this  did  Gessler  die  ! 

Art,  the  cruel  jade,  cares  not, and  hardens  her  heart, 
and  hies  her  off  to  the  East,  to  find,  among  the  opium- 
eaters  of  Nankin,  a  favourite  with  whom  she  lingers 
fondly— caressing  his  blue  porcelain,  and  painting  his 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  157 

coy  maidens,  and  marking  his  plates  with  her  six  marks 
of  choice — indifferent  in  her  companionship  with  bin?, 
to  all  save  the  virtue  of  his  refinement ! 

He  it  is  who  calls  her — he  who  holds  her  ! 

And  again  to  the  West,  that  her  next  lover  may 
bring  together  the  Gallery  at  Madrid,  and  show  to  the 
world  how  the  Master  towers  above  all ;  and  in  their 
intimacy  they  revel,  he  and  she,  in  this  knowledge ; 
and  he  knows  the  happiness  untasted  by  other 
mortal. 

She  is  proud  of  her  comrade,  and  promises  that  in 
after-years,  others  shall  pass  that  way,  and  understand. 

So  in  all  time  does  this  superb  one  cast  about  for 
the  man  worthy  her  love — and  Art  seeks  the  Artist 
alone. 

Where  he  is,  there  she  appears,  and  remains  with 
him — loving  and  fruitful — turning  never  aside  in 
moments  of  hope  deferred — of  insult — and  of  ribald 
misunderstanding ;  and  when  he  dies  she  sadly  takes 
her  flight,  though  loitering  yet  in  the  land,  from  fond 
association,  but  refusing  to  be  consoled.*  »  And  so  have  we 

_..._.    ,  ,  ,  .  the  ephemeral  influ- 

With  the  man,  then,  and  not  with  the  multitude,  ence  of  the  Master's 

'    memory— the  after- 

are  her  intimacies;  and  in  the  book  of  her  life  the  SSMfo^huS 

the  worker  and  dis- 

names  inscribed  are  few — scant,  indeed,  the  list  of  ciple- 
those  who  have  helped  to  write  her  story  of  love  and 
beauty. 


I58  THE  GENTLE  ART 

From  the  sunny  morning,  when,  with  her  glorious 
Greek  relenting,  she  yielded  up  the  secret  of  repeated 
line,  as,  with  his  hand  in  hers,  together  they  marked 
in  marble,  the  measured  rhyme  of  lovely  limb  and 
draperies  flowing  in  unison,  to  the  day  when  she 
dipped  the  Spaniard's  brush  in  light  and  air,  and  made 
his  people  live  within  their  frames,  and  stand  upon 
t/teir  legs,  that  all  nobility  and  sweetness,  and  tender- 
ness, and  magnificence  should  be  theirs  by  right,  ages 
had  gone  by,  and  few  had  been  her  choice. 

Countless,  indeed,  the  horde  of  pretenders !  But 
she  knew  them  not. 

A  teeming,  seething,  busy  mass,  whose  virtue  was 
industry,  and  whose  industry  was  vice ! 

Their  names  go  to  fill  the  catalogue  of  the  collection 
at  home,  of  the  gallery  abroad,  for  the  delectation  of 
the  bagman  and  the  critic. 

Therefore  have  we  cause  to  be  merry ! — and  to  cast 
away  all  care — resolved  that  all  is  well — as  it  ever 
was — and  that  it  is  not  meet  that  we  should  be  cried 
at,  and  urged  to  take  measures ! 

Enough  have  we  endured  of  dulness  !  Surely  are 
we  weary  of  weeping,  and  our  tears  have  been  cozened 
from  us  falsely,  for  they  have  called  out  woe !  when 
there  was  no  grief — and,  alas  !  where  all  is  fair ! 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  159 

We  have  then  but  to  wait — until,  with  the  mark  of 
the  Gods  upon  him — there  come  among  us  again  the 
chosen — who  shall  continue  what  has  gone  before. 
Satisfied  that,  even  were  he  never  to  appear,  the  story 
of  the  beautiful  is  already  complete — hewn  in  the 
marbles  of  the  Parthenon — and  broidered,  with  the 
birds,  upon  the  fan  of  Hokusai — at  the  foot  of  Fusi- 
yama. 


THE  GENTLE  ART  OF  MAKING  ENEMIES    161 


"  Rengaines!" 


LAST  night,  at  Prince's  Hall,  Mr.  Whistler  made  his 

first  public  appearance  as  a  lecturer  on  Art There 

were  some  arrows  ....  shot  off  ....  and  (0,  mea  paa Man  Gazette, 

Feb.  31, 1885. 

culpa  /)  at  dress  reformers  most  of  all That  an 

artist  will  find  beauty  in  ugliness,  le  beau  dans  I'horrible, 

is  now  a  commonplace  of  the  schools I  differ 

entirely  from  Mr.  Whistler.  An  Artist  is  not  an 
isolated  fact ;  he  is  the  resultant  of  a  certain  milieu 
and  a  certain  entourage,  and  can  no  more  be  born  of 
a  nation  that  is  devoid  of  any  sense  of  beauty  than  a 
fig  can  grow  from  a  thorn  or  a  rose  blossom  from  a 

.-,.,,  ml  ,    .      ,,  ,  .    ,      .        ,         REFLECTION: 

thistle The  poet  is  the  supreme  Artist,  for  he     It  is  not  enough 

is  the  master  of  colour  and  of   form,  and   the   real  sSJaw«  tffive  on 

his  "thistle"— he 

musician  besides,  and  is  lord  over  all  life  and  all  arts  ;  Edgar1pfeaofnertie 
and  so  to  the  poet  beyond  all  others  are  these  myste-  Ma&eVfn^cer 
ries  known  ;  to  Edgar  Allan  Poe  and  Baudelaire,  not 

pathy ; 

to  Benjamin  West  and  Paul  Delaroche 


nutmegs. 

Nation,  not  absolutely  "devoid  of  any 
icauty  "—Their    idol— cherished— listened 


Born  of  a 
sense    of    beauty' 
to — and  understood ! 
OSCAR  WILDE  Foolish  Baudelaire!— Mistaken  Mallarme"! 


162  THE  GENTLE  ART 


Tenderness  in   Tite  Street 


TO  THE  POET: 

OSCAR, — I  have  read  your  exquisite  article  in  the 
Pall  Mall.  Nothing  is  more  delicate,  in  the  flattery 
of  "the  Poet"  to  "the  Painter,"  than  the  naivete 
of  "the  Poet,"  in  the  choice  of  his  Painters — Ben- 
jamin West  and  Paul  Delaroche ! 

You  have  pointed  out  that  "  the  Painter's  "  mission 
is  to  find  ltle  beau  dans  I'horrible"  and  have  left  to 
"the  Poet"  the  discovery  of  "I'Jwrribk"  dans  "  le 


CHELSEA. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  163 


TO  THE  PAINTER: 

J)EAR  Butterfly,  —  By  the  aid  of  a  biographical 
dictionary,  I  made  the  discovery  that  there  were  once 
two  painters,  called  Benjamin  West  and  Paul  Dela- 
roche,  who  rashly  lectured  upon  Art.  As  of  their 
works  nothing  at  all  remains,  I  conclude  that  they 
explained  themselves  away.  REFLECTION-. 

* 


I  do  know  a 


Be  warned  in  time,  James  ;  and  remain,  as  I  do,  Sr7w?thhhis 

head  in  the  sand, 

incomprehensible.     To  be   great  is  to  be  misunder-  SSTCred?  the 
stood.—  Tout  a  vaus, 


it  was  rash  in  Oscar 
to  reveal  the  source  of  his  inspirations  : 
the  "Biographical  Dictionary  !" 


OSCAR  WILDE. 


1 64  THE  GENTLE  ART 


To  the  Committee  of  the  "  National  Art 
Exhibition  " 


Letter  read  at  a       QENTLEMEN, — I  am  naturally  interested  in  any 
so7^,al2fiated  effort  made  among  Painters  to  prove  that  they  are 

for  purposes  of  Art  Nov.  17,  1888. 

reform.  aijve — Dut  when  I  find,  thrust   in  the  van  of  your 

leaders,  the  body  of  my  dead  'Arry,  I  know  that 
putrefaction  alone  can  result.  When,  following  'Arry, 
there  comes  on  Oscar,  you  finish  in  farce,  and  bring 
upon  yourselves  the  scorn  and  ridicule  of  your  con- 
freres in  Europe. 

What  has  Oscar  in  common  with  Art  ?  except  that 
he  dines  at  our  tables  and  picks  from  our  platters  the 
plums  for  the  pudding  he  peddles  in  the  provinces. 
Oscar — the  amiable,  irresponsible,  esurient  Oscar — 
with  no  more  sense  of  a  picture  than  of  the  fit  of  a 
coat,  has  the  courage  of  the  opinions  ...  of  others ! 
With  'Arry  and  Oscar  you  have  avenged  the 

Academy.  Enclosed  to  the 

Poet,  with  a  line : 

I  am,  Gentlemen,  yours  obediently,  "£&££* 

•the  radius 'I" 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES 


165 


Quand  meme  ! 


The  world  ,  this  is  very  sad  !  With  our  James  vulgarity 

NOV.  84, 1886.    beging  at  home)  an(j  should  be  allowed  to  stay  there. 
— A  vous, 

OSCAR  WILDE. 


TO  WHOM: 

"A  Poor  ^^g'"  ^scar  • — "but,"  for  once,  I  suppose 
"your  own." 


166  THE  GENTLE  ART 


Philanthropy  and  Art 


Saturday  Review  has  not  thought  it  disgrace- 
ful to  once  more  justify  its  title  to  be  called  the 
"  Saturday  Reviler."  This  time  it  is  not  to  break 
upon  the  wheel  some  poor  butterfly  of  a  lady 
traveller  or  novelist,  but  to  scoff  at  an  aged  painter  of 
the  highest  repute — Mr.  Herbert — upon  his  retire- 
ment to  the  rank  of  "  Honorary  Academician,"  after  a 
career  such  as  few,  if  any,  painters  living  can  boast. 
This  it  pleases  the  "  Reviler  "  to  congratulate  artists 
upon  as  "  good  news,"  without  a  word  or  a  thought  of 
what  the  retiring  Academician  has  done  in  art,  except 
to  utter  the  contemptible  untruth  that  "  his  resignation 
means  that  he  has  found  out  that  he  is  beaten,"  not 
by  the  natural  failing  of  old  age,  but  because  he 
failed  to  impress  such  a  writer  as  this  with  the  special 
exhibition  of  the  works  of  his  long  life,  that  was 
made  some  few  years  back  to  mark  the  completion  of 
his  last  great  picture  for  the  House  of  Lords,  "  The 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  167 

Judgment  of  Daniel."  That  exhibition,  which  most 
people,  who  know  anything  about  painting  in  its 
highest  style  of  religious  and  monumental  art, 
thought  a  most  interesting  display  of  a  painter's 
career,  is  described  by  this  most  genial  of  critics  as 
"  acres  of  pallid  purple  canvases,  with  wizened  saints 
and  virgins  in  attitudinizing  groups." 

Whether  that  collection  of  Mr.  Herbert's  works 
had  merit  or  not  is  matter  of  opinion  which  I  am  not 
concerned  to  dispute  ;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  there 
were  only  three  small  pictures  in  which  the  virgin  or 
any  saints  appeared ;  the  other  pictures,  besides  the 
two  large  works  of  "  The  Delivery  of  the  Law  "  and 
"  The  Judgment  of  Daniel,"  painted  for  the  nation, 
being  historical  subjects,  such  as  the  "Lear  Disin- 
heriting Cordelia,"  a  fresco  of  which  is  in  the  House 
of  Lords ;  "  The  Acquittal  of  the  Seven  Bishops," 
which  the  Corporation  of  Salford  purchased  for  their 
gallery^of  art ;  and  several  fine  works  of  his  youth, 
.such  as  the  "Brides  of  Venice,"  a  "Procession  in 
Venice,  1528,"  and  others,  which  won  for  him  his 
election  to  the  Academy  forty-five  years  ago,  when 
he  had  to  compete  with  such  men  as  are,  unfortu- 
nately, not  to  be  found  now  among  the  candidates — 
Etty — Maclise — Dyce — Egg — and  Elmore. 
But  the  "  Saturday's  "  art  critic,  if  he  ever  saw  this 


168  THE  GENTLE  ART 

exhibition  at  all,  didn't  go  to  see  these  pictures.  As 
Goethe  says,  "  the  eye  sees  what  it  came  to  see,"  and 
he  went  to  see  the  "acres  of  purple  canvases,  with 
their  wizened  saints,"  which  were  not  there.  No 
matter — it  suits  his  purpose  to  declare  that  they 
were,  just  as  it  does  to  cram  into  a  paragraph  more 
ignorance,  insolence,  and  false  assertions  combined 
than  is  often  to  be  met  with  even  in  this  locality  of 
literature,  where  the  editor  seems  to  be  surrounded 
with  all  the  prigs,  and  the  pumps,  and  the  snobs  of 
the  literary  profession. 


Truth,  Aug.  19,  1886. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  169 


"Nous  avons  changt  tout  cela!" 

J-JOITY-TOITY !  my  dear   Henry !— What  is   all 
this  ?     How  can  you  startle  the  "  Constant  Reader,"  jvgfc  ig8J 
of  this  cold  world,  by  these  sudden  dashes  into  the 
unexpected  ? 

Perceive  also  what  happens. 

Sweet  in  the  security  of  my  own  sense  of  things, 
and  looking  upon  you  surely  as  the  typical  "  Sapem  " 
of  modern  progress  and  civilisation,  here  do  I,  in  full 
Paris,  a  I'heure  de  I' absinthe,  upon  mischievous  dis- 
cussion intent,  call  aloud  for  "  Truth." 

ie  Vous  allez  voir"  I  say  to  the  brilliant  brethren 
gathered  about  my  table,  "  you  shall  hear  the  latest 
beautiful  thing  and  bold,  said  by  our  great  Henry — 
*  capable  de  tout,'  beside  whom  lce  coquin  d'Habacuc ' 
was  mild  indeed  and  usual !  "  And  straightway  to  my 
stultification,  I  find  myself  translating  paragraphs  of 
pathos  and  indignation,  in  which  a  colourless  old 
gentleman  of  the  Academy  is  sympathized  with,  and 


170  THE  GENTLE  ART 

made  a  doddering  hero  of,  for  no  better  reason  than 
that  he  is  old — and  those  who  would  point  out  the 
wisdom  and  comfort  of  his  withdrawal  into  the  wig- 
wam of  private  life,  sternly  reproved  and  anathema- 
tized and  threatened  with  shame — until  they  might 
well  expect  to  find  themselves  come  upon  by  the 
bears  of  the  aged  and  irascible,  though  bald-headed, 
Prophet,  whom  the  children  had  thoughtfully  urged 
to  "  go  up." 

Fancy  the  Frenchmen's  astonishment  as  I  read, 
and  their  placid  amusement  as  I  attempted  to  point 
out  that  it  was  "  meant  drolly — that  enfin  you  were  a 
mystificateur  !  " 

Henry,  why  should  I  thus  be  mortified  ?  Also, 
why  this  new  pose,  this  cheap  championship  of 
senility  I 

How,  in  the  name  of  all  that  is  incompetent,  do 
you  find  much  virtue  in  work  spreading  over  more 
time  !  What  means  this  affectation  of  naivete. 

We  all  know  that  work  excuses  itself  only  by 
reason  of  its  quality. 

If  the  work  be  foolish,  it  surely  is  not  less  foolish 
because  an  honest  and  misspent  lifetime  has  been 
passed  in  producing  it. 

What  matters  it  that  the  offending  worker  has 
grown  old  among  us,  and  has  endeared  himself  to 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  171 

many    by    his    caprices    as    ratepayer    and    neigh- 
bour? 

Personally,  he  may  have  claims  upon  his  sur- 
roundings ;  but,  as  the  painter  of  poor  pictures,  he  is 
damned  for  ever. 

You  see,  my  Henry,  that  it  is  not  sufficient  to  be, 
as  you  are  in  wit  and  wisdom,  among  us,  amazing  and 
astute ;  a  very  Daniel  in  your  judgment  of  many 
vexed  questions ;  of  a  frankness  and  loyalty  withal  in 
your  crusade  against  abuses,  that  makes  of  the  keen 
litigator  a  most  dangerous  Quixote. 

This  peculiar  temperament  gives  you  that  superb 
sense  of  right,  outside  the  realms  of  art,  that  amounts 
to  genius,  and  carries  with  it  continued  success  and 
triumph  in  the  warfare  you  wage. 

But  here  it  helps  you  not.  And  so  you  find  your- 
self, for  instance,  pleasantly  prattling  in  print  of 
«  English  Art." 

Learn,  then,  0  !  Henry,  that  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  English  Art.  You  might  as  well  talk  of  English 
Mathematics.  Art  is  Art,  and  Mathematics  is  Mathe- 
matics. 

What  you  call  English  Art,  is  not  Art  at  all,  but 
produce,  of  which  there  is,  and  always  has  been,  and 
always  will  be,  a  plenty,  whether  the  men  producing 
it  are  dead  and  called  ,  or  (I  refer  you  to  your 


172  THE  GENTLE  ART 

own  selection,  far  be  it  from  me  to  choose) — or  alive 

and  called ,  whosoever  you  like  as  you  turn  over 

the  Academy  catalogue. 

The  great  truth,  you  have  to  understand,  is  that  it 
matters  not  at  all  whom  you  prefer  in  this  long  list. 
They  all  belong  to  the  excellent  army  of  mediocrity ; 
the  differences  between  them  being  infinitely  small 
— merely  microscopic — as  compared  to  the  vast  dis- 
tance between  any  one  of  them  and  the  Great. 

They  are  the  commercial  travellers  of  Art,  whose 
works  are  their  wares,  and  whose  exchange  is  the 
Academy. 

They  pass  and  are  forgotten,  or  remain  for  a  while 
in  the  memory  of  the  worthies  who  knew  them,  and 
who  cling  to  their  faith  in  them,  as  it  flatters  their 
own  place  in  history — famous  themselves — the  friends 
of  the  famous ! 

Speak  of  them,  if  it  please  you,  with  uncovered 
head — even  as  in  France  you  would  remove  your  hat 
as  there  passes  by  the  hearse — but  remember  it  is 
from  the  conventional  habit  of  awe  alone,  this  show 
of  respect,  and  called  forth  generally  by  the  casual 
corpse  of  the  commonest  kind. 


PARIS,  Aug.  21,  1886. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  173 


The  Inevitable 


Y\/"HEN  I  suggested  you  as  the  "  Sapeur  of  modern 
progress,"   my   dear   Henry,    I   thought    to    convey  sS^isw. 
delicately  my  appreciation,  wrapped  in  graceful  com- 
pliment. 

When  I  am  made  to  say  that  you  are  the  "  Sapem  " 
of  civilisation — whatever  that  may  mean — I  would 
seem  to  insinuate  an  impertinence  clothed  in  classic 
error. 

I  trust  that,  if  you  forgive  me,  you  will  never 
pardon  the  printer. — Always, 


\jr 


174  THE  GENTLE  ART 


Noblesse  oblige" 


,  look  at  this !  It  has  been  culled  from  the 
Plumber  and  Decorator,  of  all  insidious  prints,  and 
forwarded  to  me  by  the  untiring  people  who  daily 
supply  me  with  the  thinkings  of  my  critics. 
Bead,  Atlas,  and  let  me  execute  myself  : 
"  The  '  Peacock '  drawing-room  of  a  well-to-do  ship- 
owner, of  Liverpool,  at  Queen's  Gate,  London, 
is  hand-painted,  representing  the  noble  bird  with 
wings  expanded,  painted  by  an  Associate  of  the 
Royal  Academy,  at  a  cost  of  ^7000,  and  fortunate 
in  claiming  his  daughter  as  his  bride,  and  is  one 
of  the  finest  specimens  of  high  art  in  decoration 
in  the  kingdom.  The  mansion  is  of  modern  con- 
struction." 

He  is  not  guilty,  this  honest  Associate !  It  was  /, 
Atlas,  who  did  this  thing — "alone  I  did  it" — 7 
"  hand-painted  "  this  room  in  the  "  mansion  of  modern 
construction ." 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  175 

Woe  is  me !  /  secreted,  in  the  provincial  ship- 
owner's home,  the  "  noble  bird  with  wings  ex- 
panded"— /  perpetrated,  in  harmless  obscurity, 
"the  finest  specimen  of  high-art  decoration" — and 
the  Academy  is  without  stain  in  the  art  of  its  mem- 
ber. Also  the  immaculate  character  of  that  Royal 
body  has  been  falsely  impugned  by  this  wicked 
"  Plumber  "  ! 

Mark  these  things,  Atlas,  that  justice  may  be 
done,  the  innocent  spared,  and  history  cleanly 
written. 

Bon  soir  ! 


CHELSEA. 


I76  THE  GENTLE  ART 


Early  Laurels 

TO  THE  EDITOR: 

, — In  your  report  of  the  Grahame  sale  of  pictures 
at  Messrs.  Christie  and  Hanson's  rooms,  I  read  the 
following  : 

"The  next  work,  put  upon  the  easel,  was  a 
*  Nocturne  in  blue  and  silver,'  by  J.  M.  Whistler. 
It  was  received  with  hisses." 

May  I  beg,  through  your  widely  spread  paper,  to 
acknowledge  the  distinguished,  though  I  fear  uncon- 
scious, compliment  so  publicly  paid. 

It  is  rare  that  recognition,  so  complete,  is  made 
during  the  lifetime  of  the  painter,  and  I  would  wish 
to  have  recorded  my  full  sense  of  this  flattering 
exception  in  my  favour. 


CHELSEA. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  177 


A  Further  Proposition 


notion  that  I  paint  flesh  lower  in  tone  than 
it  is  in  nature,  is  entirely  based  upon  the  popular 
superstition  as  to  what  flesh  really  is  —  when  seen  on 
canvas  ;  for  the  people  never  look  at  nature  with  any 
sense  of  its  pictorial  appearance  —  for  which  reason, 
by  the  way,  they  also  never  look  at  a  picture  with 
any  sense  of  nature,  but,  unconsciously  from  habit, 
with  reference  to  what  they  have  seen  in  other 
pictures. 

Now,  in  the  usual  "  pictures  of  the  year  "  there  is 
but  one  flesh,  that  shall  do  service  under  all  circum- 
stances, whether  the  person  painted  be  in  the  soft 
light  of  the  room  or  out  in  the  glare  of  the  open. 
The  one  aim  of  the  unsuspecting  painter  is  to  make 
his  man  "  stand  out  "  from  the  frame  —  never  doubt- 
ing that,  on  the  contrary,  he  should  really,  and  in 
truth  absolutely  does,  stand  within  the  frame  —  and 
at  a  depth  behind  it  equal  to  the  distance  at  which 

M 


178  THE  GENTLE  ART 

the  painter  sees  his  model.  The  frame  is,  indeed,  the 
window  through  which  the  painter  looks  at  his  model, 
and  nothing  could  be  more  offensively  inartistic  than 
this  brutal  attempt  to  thrust  the  model  on  the  hither- 
side  of  this  window ! 

Yet  this  is  the  false  condition  of  things  to  which 
all  have  become  accustomed,  and  in  the  stupendous 
effort  to  bring  it  about,  exaggeration  has  been 
exhausted — and  the  traditional  means  of  the  incom- 
petent can  no  further  go. 

Lights  have  been  heightened  until  the  white  of  the 
tube  alone  remains — shadows  have  been  deepened 
until  black  alone  is  left.  Scarcely  a  feature  stays  in 
its  place,  so  fierce  is  its  intention  of  "  firmly  "  coming 
forth  ;  and  in  the  midst  of  this  unseemly  struggle  for 
prominence,  the  gentle  truth  has  but  a  sorry  chance, 
falling  flat  and  flavourless,  and  without  force. 

The  Master  from  Madrid,  himself,  beside  this 
monster  success  of  mediocrity,  would  be  looked  upon 
as  mild  :  beau  bien  sure,  mais  pas  "  dans  le  mouve- 
ment " ! 

Whereas,  could  the  people  be  induced  to  turn  their 
eyes  but  for  a  moment,  with  the  fresh  power  of  com- 
parison, upon  their  fellow-creatures  as  they  pass  in 
the  gallery,  they  might  be  made  dimly  to  perceive 
(though  I  doubt  it,  so  blind  is  their  belief  in  the  bad) 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  179 

how  little  they  resemble  the  impudent  images  on 
the  walls !  how  "  quiet "  in  colour  they  are !  how 
"  grey  !  "  how  "  low  in  tone."  And  then  it  might 
be  explained  to  their  riveted  intelligence  how  they 
had  mistaken  meretriciousness  for  mastery,  and  by 
what  mean  methods  the  imposture  had  been  practised 
upon  them. 


THE  GENTLE  ART  OF  MAKING  ENEMIES     181 


An  Opportunity 


Monsieur,  —  M.  -  m'a  remis  votre  petite 
planche  —  port  d'  Amsterdam  avec  une  epreuve.  Elle 
est  charmante  et  je  serais  fort  heureux  de  la  faire 
paraitre  dans  Tarticle  consacr6  &  vos  eaux  fortes. 
Seulement,  je  crains  que  vous  avez  mal  interprete 
ma  demande  et  que  par  le  fait  nous  ne  nous  entendons 
pas  bien.  Vous  me  demandez  63  guin6es  pour  cette 
planche,  soit  plus  de  2000  francs,  outre  que  le  prix 
depasse  celui  de  la  planche  la  plus  chere  parue  dans  la 
Gazette  de  puis  sa  fondation,y  comprises  chefs-d'oeuvre 
de  Jacquemart  et  de  Gaillard,  il  n'est  pas  dans  les 
habitudes  de  la  maison  de  payer  les  planches  d'artistes 
qui  accompagnent  un  compte-rendu  de  leur  reuvre. 
C'est  ainsi  que  nous  avons  agi  avec  Meryon,  Seymour 
Haden,  Edwards,  Evershed,  Legros,  &c. 

Du  reste,  la  planche  pourrait  rester  votre  propriete. 
Nous  vous  la  remettrions  apres  avoir  fait  notre  tirage. 
II  est  entendu  qu'elle  serait  acieree. 


182  THE  GENTLE  ART 

Si  ces  conditions  vous  agreent,  cher  monsieur,  je 
me  ferai  un  vrai  plaisir  de  faire  dans  la  Gazette  un 
article  sur  votre  beau  talent  d'aquafortiste.  Dans 
le  cas  contraire,  je  me  verais,  avec  mille  regrets,  dans 
la  necessity  de  vous  renvoyer  la  planche  que  je  me 
fusse  fait  cependant  un  veritable  honneur  de  publier. 

Veuillez  agrder,  cher  monsieur,  1'expression  de  mes 
meilleurs  sentiments. 


LE  DIRECTEUR  de  la 

Gazette  des  Beaux- Arts. 


PARIS,  le  12  Juin  1878. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  183 


The  Opportunity  Neglected 


Monsieur,  —  Je  regrette  infiniment  que  mes 
moyens  ne  me  permettent  pas  de  naitre  dans  votre 
Journal. 

L'article  que  vous  me  proposez,  comme  berceau,  me 
coiiterait  trop  cher. 

II  me  faudrait  done  reprendre  ma  planche  et  rester 
inconnu  jusqu'a  la  fin  des  choses,  puisque  je  n'aurais 
pas  ete  invente  par  la  Gazette  des  Beaux-Arts.  —  Re- 
cevez,  Monsieur, 


i84  THE  GENTLE  ART 


Nostalgia 

.  .   .  .  "  QUITE  true— now  that  it  is  established 

as  an  improbability,  it  becomes  true  !  Extract  irom  a 

letter  <i  propos  of 

They  tell  me  that  December  has  been  fixed  upon,  JSJSffig1 
by  the  Fates,  for  my  arrival  in  New  York — and,  if  I  S^d.  ° 
escape   the  Atlantic,   I   am    to   be  wrecked   by  the 
reporter  on  the  pier. 

I  shall  be  in  his  hands,  even  as  is  the  sheep  in  the 
hands  of  his  shearer — for  I  have  learned  nothing 
from  those  who  have  gone  before — and  been  lost  too  ! 

What  will  you  !  I  know  Matthew  Arnold,  and  am 
told  that  he  whispered  truth  exquisite,  unheeded  in 
the  haste  of  America. 

And  these  others  who  have  crossed  the  seas,  that 
they  might  fasten  upon  the  hurried  ones  at  home  and 
gird  at  them  with  wisdom,  hysterically  acquired,  and 
administered,  unblushingly,  with  a  suddenness  of 
purpose  that  prevented  their  ever  being  listened  to 
here, — must  I  follow  in  their  wake,  to  be  met  with 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  185 

suspicion  by  my  compatriot?,  and  resented  as  the 
invading  instructor  ? 

Heavens ! — who  knows ! — also  in  the  papers,  where 
naturally  I  read  only  of  myself,  I  gather  a  general 
impression  of  offensive  aggressiveness,  that,  coupled 
with  Chase's  monstrous  lampoon,  has  prepared  me  for 
the  tomahawk  on  landing. 

How  dared  he,  Chase,  to  do  this  wicked  thing  ? — 
and  I  who  was  charming,  and  made  him  beautiful  on 
canvas — the  Masher  of  the  Avenues. 

However,  I  may  not  put  off  until  the  age  of  the 
amateur  has  gone  by,  but  am  to  take  with  me  some 
of  those  works  which  have  won  for  me  the  execration 
of  Europe,  that  they  may  be  shown  to  a  country  in 
which  I  cannot  be  a  prophet,  and  where  I,  who  have 
no  intention  of  being  other  than  joyous — improving 
no  one — not  even  myself — will  say  again  my  "  Ten 
o'Clock/'  which  I  refused  to  repeat  in  London — J'ai 
ditf 

This  is  no  time  for  hesitation — one  cannot  con- 
tinually disappoint  a  Continent ! 


THE  GENTLE  ART  OF  MAKING  ENEMIES    187 


An  Insinuation 


TO  THE  EDITOR. 

attention  has  been  directed  to  a  paragraph  that 
has  gone  the  round  of  the  papers,  to  the  effect  that 
Mr.  John  Burr  and  Mr.  Reid  have  "withdrawn  from  The D*uy Ne 

NOV.  32,  1886. 

the  Society  of  British  Artists."  This  tardy  statement 
acquires  undue  significance  at  this  moment,  with  a 
pendency  to  mislead,  implying,  as  it  might,  that  these 
resignations  were  in  consequence  of,  and  intended  as 
a  marked  disapproval  of,  the  determined  stand  made 
by  the  Society  in  excluding  from  their  coming  ex- 
hibition the  masses  of  commonplace  work  hitherto 
offered  to  the  public  in  their  galleries.  No  such 
importance  attaches,  however,  to  their  resignations,  as 
these  two  gentlemen  left  Suffolk  Street  six  months 
ago, 


1 88  THE  GENTLE  ART 


An  Imputation 


TO  THE  EDITOR: 

QIR, — Mr.  Whistler  denies  that  the  recent  policy  of 
the  Society  of  British  Artists  was  the  cause  of  the 
secession  of  Messrs.  Burr  and  Reid  from  the  ranks  of  The  Dauy 

NOT.  34.  1 

that  Society,  and  mentions  in  proof  of  his  correction 
that  their  resignation  took  place  six  months  ago.  He 
might  have  gone  further,  and  added  that  their  seces- 
sion corresponded  in  time  with  his  own  election  as 
president.  It  is  well  known  to  artists  that  one,  if  not 
both,  of  these  gentlemen  left  the  Society  knowing 
that  changes  of  policy,  of  which  they  could  not 
approve,  were  inevitable  under  the  presidency  of  Mr. 
Whistler.  It  will  be  for  the  patrons  of  the  Suffolk 
Street  Gallery  to  decide  whether  the  more  than  half- 
uncovered  walls  which  will  be  offered  to  their  view 
next  week  are  more  interesting  than  the  work  of 
many  artists  of  more  than  average  merit  which  will 
be  conspicuous  by  its  absence,  owing  to  the  selfish 
policy  inaugurated. 

A  BRITISH  ARTIST. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  189 


"  Autre   Temps  autre  M&urs  " 

TO  THE  EDITOR: 

!,, — The  anonymous  "British  Artist"  says  that 
"  Mr.  Whistler  denies  that  the  recent  policy  of  the 
Society  of  British  Artists  was  the  cause  of  the  seces- 

Nov.  a6,  1886. 

sion  of  Messrs.  Reid  and  Burr  from  the  ranks  of  that 
Society." 

Far  from  me  to  propose  to  penetrate  the  motives  of 
such  withdrawal,  but  what  I  did  deny  was  that  it  could 
possibly  be  caused — as  its  strangely  late  announce- 
ment seemed  sweetly  to  insinuate — by  the  strong 
determination  to  tolerate  no  longer  the  mediocre  work 
that  had  hitherto  habitually  swarmed  the  walls  of 
Suffolk  Street. 

This  is  a  plain  question  of  date,  and  I  pointed  out 
that  these  two  gentlemen  left  the  Society  six  months 


190  THE  GENTLE  ART 

ago — long  before  the  supervising  committee  were 
called  upon  to  act  at  all,  or  make  any  demonstration 
whatever.  Your  correspondent  regrets  that  I  do  not 
"  go  further,"  and  straightway  goes  further  himself, 
and  scarcely  fares  better,  when,  with  a  quaintness  of 
naivete  rare  at  this  moment,  he  proposes  that  "  it  will 
be  for  the  patrons  of  the  gallery  to  decide  whether 
the  more  than  half-uncovered  walls  are  more  interest- 
ing than  the  works  of  many  artists  of  more  than  the 
average  merit.'1 

Now  it  will  be  for  the  patrons  to  decide  absolutely 
nothing.  It  is,  and  will  always  be,  for  the  gentlemen 
of  the  hanging  committee  alone,  duly  chosen,  to  decide 
whether  empty  space  be  preferable  to  poor  pictures — 
whether,  in  short,  it  be  their  duty  to  cover  walls, 
merely  that  walls  may  be  covered — no  matter  with 
what  quality  of  work. 

Indeed,  the  period  of  the  patron  has  utterly  passed 
away,  and  the  painter  takes  his  place — to  point  out 
what  he  knows  to  be  consistent  with  the  demands  of 
his  art — without  deference  to  patrons  or  prejudice 
to  party.  Beyond  this,  whether  the  "  policy  of 
Mr.  Whistler  and  his  following"  be  "selfish  or 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  191 

no,"  matters  but  little;  but  if  the  policy  of  your 
correspondent's  "  following "  find  itself  among  the 
ruthlessly  rejected,  his  letter  is  more  readily  ex- 
plained. 


THE  GENTLE  ART  OF  MAKING  ENEMIES    193 


Talent  in  a  Napkin 


JF  those  who  talk  and  write  so  glibly  as  to  the  de- 
sirability of  artists  devoting  themselves  to  the  repre-  Lecture  before  the 

Church  Congress, 

sentation  of  the  naked  human  form,  only  knew  a  tithe  Oct<  7>  l88s- 
of  the  degradation  enacted  before  the  model  is 
sufficiently  hardened  to  her  shameful  calling,  they 
would  for  ever  hold  their  tongues  and  pens  in  sup- 
porting the  practice.  Is  not  clothedness  a  distinct 
type  and  feature  of  our  Christian  faith  ?  All  art 
representations  of  nakedness  are  out  of  harmony 
with  it. 

J.  C.  HORSLEY,  R.A. 


i94  THE  GENTLE  ART 


The  Critic  "Catching  on" 


jy[R.  WHISTLER  is  again,  in  a  sense,  the  mainstay 
of  the  Society  (British  Artists),  partly  through  his 
own  individuality  and  partly  through  the  innovations 
he  has  introduced.  .  .  .  He  has  several  oil  and  pastel 
pictures,  very  slight  in  themselves,  of  the  female  nude, 
dignified  and  graceful  in  line  and  charmingly  chaste, 
entitled  "Harmony,"  "Caprice,"  and  "Note."  Be- 
neath the  latter  Mr.  Whistler  has  written,  "  Horsley 
so  it  qui  mal  y  pense." 

"This  is  not,'*  said  the  artist,  "what  people  are 
sure  to  call  it, '  Whistler's  little  joke.'     On  the  con-  REFLECTJON. 
trary,  it  is  an  indignant  protest  against  the  idea  that  Meant -friendly." 
there  is  any  immorality  in  the  nude." 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  195 


Ingratitude 


),  kind  sir — trop  de  zele  on  the  part  of  your  re- 

*  *  Pall  Mall  Gazette, 

presentative — for   I   surely  never  explain,  and   Art  Dec-IO-l88s- 
certainly  requires  no  "  indignant  protest  "  against  the 
unseemliness  of   senility.     "  Horsley  soit  qui  mal  y 
pense"  is  meanwhile  a  sweet  sentiment — why  more — 
and  why  "  morality  "  ? 


196  THE  GENTLE  ART 


The  Complacent  One 


,  WHISTLER  has  issued  a  brown-paper  port- 
folio of  half  a  dozen  "Notes,"  reproduced  in  mar-  Magazine 0/ Art, 
vellous  facsimile.  These  "Notes"  are  delightful 
sketches  in  Indian  ink  and  crayon,  masterly  so  far  as 
they  go — but,  then,  they  go  such  a  little  way.  .  .  . 
the  "Notes"  can  only  be  regarded  as  painter's  raw 
material,  interesting  as  correct  sketches,  but  unworthy 
the  glories  of  facsimile  reproduction,  and  imposing 
margin.  .  .  .  The  chief  honours  of  the  portfolio 
belong  to  the  publishers.  .  .  . 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  197 


The  Critic-flaneur 

gIR,— You,  who  are,  I  perceive,  in  your  present 
brilliant  incarnation,  an  undaunted  and  undulled 
pursuer  of  pleasing  truths,  listen,  I  pray  you,  while 
again  I  indicate,  with  sweet  argument,  the  alternative 
of  the  bewildered  one. 

Notably,  it  is  not  necessary  that  the  "  Art  Critic  " 
should  distinguish  between  the  real  and  the  "  repro- 
duction," or  otherwise  understand  anything  of  the 
matter  of  which  he  writes — for  much  shall  be  for- 
given him — yet  surely,  as  I  have  before  now  pointed 
out,  he  might  inquire. 

Had  the  expounder  of  exhibitions,  travelling  for  the 
Magazine  of  Art,  asked  the  Secretary  in  the  galleries 
of  the  Royal  Society  of  British  Artists,  he  would  have 
been  told  that  the  "  Notes  "  on  the  staircase,  and  in 
the  vestibule,  are  not  "  delightful  sketches  in  Indian 
ink  and  crayon  .  .  .  reproduced  in  marvellous  fac- 
simile by  Boussod,  Valadon  &  Co unworthy 


ig8  THE  GENTLE  ART 

the  glories  of  facsimile  reproduction,  and  imposing 
margin  "  .  .  .  .  while  "  the  chief  honours  of  the  port- 
folio, however,  belong  to  the  publishers" — but  are, 
disconcerting  as  I  acknowledge  it  to  be,  themselves  the 
lithographs  from  nature,  drawn  on  the  stone  upon  the 
spot. 

Thus  easily  provided  with  paragraph,  he  would  also 
have  been  spared  the  mortification  of  rebuke  from 
his  well-meaning  and  embarrassed  employers. 

Let  the  gentleman  be  warned — let  him  learn  that 
the  foolish  critic  only, — looks — and  brings  disaster, 
upon  his  paper — the  safe  and  well-conducted  one 
"  informs  himself." 

Yours,  Sir,  gently, 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  199 


A  Played-out  Policy 

TO  THE  EDITOR 
OF  THE  "PALL  MALL  GAZETTE"  : 

O IR, — In  your  courageous  crusade  against  the  Demon 
Dulness  and  his  preposterous  surroundings,  I  think 
it  well  that  there  should  be  delivered  into  your  hands 
certain  documents  for  immediate  publication,  that 

A  f       Dec.  9, 18 

your  readers  may  be  roused  quickly,  and  hear  again 
how  well  fenced  in  are  the  foolish  in  strong  places — 
and  how  greatly  to  be  desired  is  their  exposure,  dis- 
comfiture, and  death — that  Truth  may  prevail. 

It  happened  in  this  way.  The  criticism  in  the  Times 
called  for  instant  expostulation,  and  my  answer  was 
consequently  sent  in  to  the  Editor,  who  forthwith 
returned  it,  regretting  "that  its  tone  prevented  its 
appearance  in  the  paper."  ....  I  thereupon  with- 
drew to  write  the  following  note  to  the  Editor  in 
person : — 

"  Dear  Sir, — Permit  me  to  call  your  courteous  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  the  enclosed  letter  to  the  Editor 


200  THE  GENTLE  ART 

of  the  Times  is  in  reply  to  an  article  that  appeared  in 

your  paper — and  that,  as  I  sign  my  name  in  full,  I 

alone  am  responsible  for  its  tone  or  form ;   indeed, 

that  such  is  its  tone  and  form,  is  because  it  is  my 

letter. 

"  In  common  fairness  the  answer  to,  or  comment 
upon,  any  statements  made  in  your  paper  should  be 
published  in  your  paper,  as  proper  etiquette  prevents 
its  insertion  in  any  other  journal. 

"  Also,  you  surely  would  not  propose  to  dictate  cer- 
tain forms  or  styles  in  which  alone  the  columns  of 
the  Times  are  to  be  approached — as  who  should  say 
all  other  savour  of  sacrilege ! — or  acquiescence  alone 
would  do,  and  you  would  have  to  write  all  your  letters 
yourselves. 

"My  letter  concerns  the  effect  produced  by  criticism 
of  a  commonplace  and  inferior  kind,  wholly  unworthy 
the  first  paper  in  England — and  I  am  startled  to 
learn,  and  still  unwilling  to  believe,  that  the  Times 
would  shun  all  ventilation  and  refuse  to  publish  any 
letter  as  its  sole  means  of  screening  its  staff  or  pro- 
tecting its  writers. 

"  I  submit  that  the  tone  of  my  letter  sins  against 
no  laws  that  are  accepted  in  antagonism — that  it 
offends  in  no  way  the  etiquette  of  attack  known  to 
gentlemen. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  201 

"  I  beg,  therefore,  again,  that  if  there  be  still  time 

for  its  insertion,  you  will  have  it  printed  in  your  issue 

of  to-morrow,  or  will  say  that  it  shall  appear  in  the 

Times  of  Thursday  morning. 

"  I  am,  dear  Sir, 

"  Very  faithfully, 

"J.  McNsiLL  WHISTLER." 

I  was  now  told,  "  with  the  Editor's  compliments," 
"  that  my  letter  should  be  considered."  Taking  this 
in  complete  good  faith,  I  left  the  office,  to  discover 
the  next  day  in  print  a  remnant  of  the  letter  in  ques- 
tion ;  that,  by  itself,  entirely  did  away  with  sufficient 
reason  for  its  being  there  at  all.  The  two  ensuing 
notes  explain  themselves : 

To  J.  McN.  WHISTLER,  Esq. : 
"  The  Editor  of  the  Times  has  inserted  in  to-day's  paper  the  only 

portion  of  Mr.  Whistler's  letter  of  November  30  which  appears  to 

have  any  claim  to  publication. 
"PRINTING  HOUSE  SQUARE,  Dec.  i,  1886." 

"  To  the  Editor  of  the  Times: 

"Dear  Sir, — I  beg  to  acknowledge  the  consummate  sense  of 
opportunity  displayed  by  the  Editor  of  the  Times,  in  his  cunning 
production  of  a  part  of  my  letter. 

' '  Amazing  !     Met  compliments  /" 


202  THE  GENTLE  ART 

Without  further  comment  I  hand  you  a  copy  of  the 
rejected  letter. 

"  To  the  Editor  of  the  Times.— Sir,— In  his  article 
upon  the  Society  of  British  Artists,  your  Art  gentle- 
man ventures  the  opinion  of  the  *  plain  man.' 

"  That  such  opinion  is  out  of  place  and  stultifying 
in  a  question  of  Art  never  occurs  to  him,  and  it  is 
therefore  frankly  cited  as,  in  a  way,  conclusive. 

"The  naif  train  of  thought  that  justified  the  im- 
portance attached  to  this  poor  '  plain '  opinion  at  all 
would  seem  to  be  the  same  that  pervades  the  writing 
throughout ;  until  it  becomes  difficult  to  discover 
where  the  easy  effrontery  and  self-sufficiency  of  the 
'  plain  one,'  nothing  doubting,  cease,  and  the  wit  and 
wisdom  of  the  experienced  expert  begin — so  that  one 
unconsciously  confounds  the  incautious  critic  with  the 
plausible  plain  person,  who  finally  becomes  the  same 
authority. 

"  Blind  plainness  certainly  is  the  characteristic  of 
the  solemn  censure  upon  the  fine  work  of  Mr.  Stott,  of 
Oldham — plain  blindness  the  omission  of  all  mention 
of  Mr.  Ludovici's  dainty  dancing-girl. 

"  Bewilderment  among  paintings  is  naturally  the  fate 
of  the  '  plain  man,'  but,  when  put  forth  in  the  Times, 
his  utterances,  however  empty,  acquire  a  semblance 
of  sense  ;  so  that  while  he  gravely  descants  with  bald 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  203 

assurance  upon  the  engineering  of  the  light  in  the 
galleries,  and  the  decoration  of  the  walls,  the  reader 
stands  a  chance  of  being  misled,  and  may  not  discover 
at  once  that  the  *  plain  '  writer  is  qualified  by  ignor- 
ance alone  to  continue. 

"  Permit  me,  therefore,  to  rectify  inconsequent  im- 
pressions, and  tell  your  readers  that  there  is  nothing 
*  tentative '  in  the  *  arrangement '  of  colour,  walls, 
or  drapery — that  the  battens  should  not  '  be  removed ' 
— that  they  are  meant  to  remain,  not  only  for  their  use, 
but  as  bringing  parallel  lines  into  play  that  subdivide 
charmingly  the  lower  portion  of  the  walls  and  add  to 
their  light  appearance — that  the  whole  '  combination  ' 
is  complete — and  that  the  '  plain  man '  is,  as  usual, 
'  out  of  it.' — I  am,  Sir,  etc., 

"  J.  McNEiLL  WHISTLER." 

The  question  of  fair  dealing  and  good  manners 
in  this  matter  I  could  not  leave  in  better  hands 
than  your  own,  and  I  will  only  add  that  hitherto 
I  have  always  met  with  the  utmost  readiness  on 
the  part  of  the  press  to  receive  into  their  columns 
any  reply,  however  opposed  to  assertions  of  their 
own. 

Surely  it  is  but  poor  policy  this  peremptory  attempt 
to  maintain  in  authority  the  weak  and  blundering  one, 


204  THE  GENTLE  ART 

that  he  may  destroy  himself  and  bring  sorrow  upon 

his  people. 

Rather  let  him  be  thrust  from  his  post,  that  he 
may  be  "brayed  in  a  mortar  among  wheat  with  a 
pestle" — that  the  Just  be  assuaged  and  foolishness 
depart  from  among  us. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  205 


An  Interview  with  an  ex- President 


adverse  vote  by  which  the  Royal  Society  of 
British  Artists  transferred  its  oath  of  allegiance  from 
Mr.  Whistler  is  for  the  time  the  chief  topic  of  con-  pau  Man  Gazette, 

June  it,  1888. 

versation  in  artistic  circles.  .  .  .  We  instructed  our 
representative  to  visit  Mr.  Whistler  to  obtain  his 
explanation  of  the  affair. 

"The  state  of  affairs?"  said  Mr.  Whistler,  in  his 
light  and  airy  way,  raising  his  eyebrows  and  twinkling 
his  eyes,  as  if  it  were  all  the  best  possible  fun  in  the 
world ;  "  why,  my  dear  sir,  there's  positively  no  state 
of  affairs  at  all.  Contrary  to  public  declaration 
there's  actually  nothing  chaotic  in  the  whole  business  ; 
on  the  contrary,  everything  is  in  order,  and  just  as  it 
should  be.  The  survival  of  the  fittest  as  regards  the 
presidency,  don't  you  see,  and,  well — Suffolk  Street  is 
itself  again  !  A  new  government  has  come  in,  and, 
as  I  told  the  members  the  other  night,  I  congratulate 
the  Society  on  the  result  of  their  vote,  for  no  longer 


206  THE  GENTLE  ART 

can  it  be  said  that  the  right  man  is  in  the  wrong 
place.  No  doubt  their  pristine  sense  of  undisturbed 
somnolence  will  again  settle  upon  them  after  the 
exasperated  mental  condition  arising  from  the  un- 
natural strain  recently  put  upon  the  old  ship.  Eh  ? 
what?  Ha!  ha!" 

"  You  do  not  then  consider  the  Society  as  out  of 
date  ?  You  do  not  think,  as  is  sometimes  said,  that 
the  establishment  of  the  Grosvenor  took  away  the 
raison  d'etre  and  original  intention  of  the  Society — 
that  of  being  a  foil  to  the  Royal  Academy  ?  " 

"  I  can  hardly  say  what  was  originally  intended, 
but  I  do  know  that  it  was  originally  full  of  hope,  and 
even  determination ;  shown  in  a  manner  by  their 
getting  a  Royal  Charter — the  only  art  society  in 
London,  I  believe,  that  has  one. 

"  But  by  degrees  it  lapsed  into  a  condition  of  in- 
capacity— a  sort  of  secondary  state, — do  you  see,  till 
it  acknowledged  itself  a  species  of  creche  for  the  Royal 
Academy.  Certain  it  is  that  when  I  came  into  it  the 
prevalent  feeling  among  all  the  men  was  that  their 
best  work  should  go  to  *  another  place.' 

"I  felt  that  this  sense  of  inferiority  was  fatal  to 
the  well-being  of  the  place. 

"For  that  reason  I  attempted  to  bring  about  a 
sense  of  espj-it  de  corps  and  ambition,  which  culminated 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  207 

in  what  might  be  called  '  my  first  offence ' — by  my 
proposition  that  members  belonging  to  other  societies 
should  hold  no  official  position  in  ours.  I  wanted  to 
make  it  an  art  centre,"  continued  Mr.  Whistler,  with 
a  sudden  vigour  and  an  earnestness  for  which  the 
public  would  hardly  give  credit  to  this  Master  of 
Badinage  and  Apostle  of  Persiflage ;  "  they  wanted  it 
to  remain  a  shop,  although  I  said  to  them,  '  Gentle- 
men, don't  you  perceive  that  as  shopmen  you  have 
already  failed,  don't  you  see,  eh?'  But  they  were 
under  the  impression  that  the  sales  decreased  under 
my  methods  and  my  regime,  and  ignored  the  fact  that 
sales  had  declined  all  over  the  country  from  all  sorts 
of  causes,  commercial,  and  so  on. 

"Their  only  chance  lay  in  the  art  tone  of  the 
place,  for  the  old-fashioned  pictures  had  ceased  to 
become  saleable  wares — buyers  simply  wouldn't  buy 
them.  But  members'  work  I  couldn't,  by  the  rules, 
eliminate — only  the  bad  outsiders  were  choked  off." 

"  Then  how  do  you  explain  the  bitterness  of  all  the 
opposition  ? " 

"  A  question  of  *  pull  devil,  pull  baker,'  and  the 
devil  has  gone  and  the  bakers  remain  in  Suffolk 
Street!  Ha!  ha!  Here  is  a  list  of  the  fiendish 
party  who  protested  against  the  thrusting  forth  of 
their  president  in  such  an  unceremonious  way : — 


208  THE  GENTLE  ART 

"Alfred  Stevens, Theodore  Roussel, Nelson  Maclean, 
Macnab,  Waldo  Story,  A.  Ludovici,  jun.,  Sidney  Starr, 
Francis  James,  W.  A.  Rixon,  Aubrey  Hunt,  Moffatt 
P.  Lindner,  E.  G.  Girardot,  Ludby,  Arthur  Hill, 
Llewellyn,  W.  Christian  Symons,  C.  Wyllie,  A.  F. 
Grace,  J.  E.  Grace,  J.  D.  Watson,  Jacomb  Hood, 
Thornley,  J.  J.  Shannon,  and  Charles  Keen.  Why, 
the  very  flower  of  the  Society  !  and  whom  have  they 
left — bon  Dieu  !  whom  have  they  left  ?  " 

"  It  was  a  hard  fight  then  ?  " 

"  My  dear  sir,  they  brought  up  the  maimed,  the 
halt,  the  lame,  and  the  blind — literally — like  in 
Hogarth's  *  Election '  ;  they  brought  up  everything 
but  corpses,  don't  you  know  ! — very  well !  " 

"  But  all  this  hardly  explains  the  bitterness  of  the 
feud  and  personal  enmity  to  you  " 

"  What  ?  Don't  you  see  ?  My  presidential  career 
had  in  a  manner  been  a  busy  one.  When  I  took 
charge  of  the  ship  I  found  her  more  or  less  water- 
logged. Well,  I  put  the  men  to  the  pumps,  and 
thoroughly  shook  up  the  old  vessel ;  had  her  re-rigged, 
re-cleaned,  and  painted — and  finally  I  was  graciously 
permitted  to  run  up  the  Royal  Standard  to  the  mast- 
head, and  brought  her  fully  to  the  fore,  ready  for 
action — as  became  a  Royal  flagship !  And  as  a 
natural  result  mutiny  at  once  set  in  ! 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  209 

"  Don't  you  see,"  he  continued,  with  one  of  his 
strident  laughs,  "  what  might  be  considered,  by  the 
thoughtless,  as  benefits,  were  resented,  by  the  older 
and  wiser  of  the  crew,  as  innovations  and  intrusions 
of  an  impertinent  and  offensive  nature.  But  the 
immediate  result  was  that  interest  in  the  Society  was 
undeniably  developed,  not  only  at  home,  but  certainly 
abroad.  Notably  in  Paris  all  the  art  circle  was  keenly 
alive  to  what  was  taking  place  in  Suffolk  Street ;  and, 
although  their  interest  in  other  institutions  in  this 
country  had  previously  nagged,  there  was  the  strong 
willingness  to  take  part  in  its  exhibitions. 

For  example,  there  was  Alfred  Stevens,  who 
showed  his  own  sympathy  with  the  progressive  efforts 
by  becoming  a  member.  And  look  at  the  throngs  of 
people  that  crowded  our  private  views — eh?  ha! 
ha!  what!  But  what  will  you! — the  question  is, 
after  all,  purely  a  parochial  one — and  here  I  would 
stop  to  wonder,  if  I  do  not  seem  pathetic  and  out  of 
character,  why  the  Artist  is  naturally  an  object  of 
vituperation  to  the  Vestryman  ? — Why  am  / — who, 
of  course,  as  you  know,  am  charming — why  am  I 
the  pariah  of  my  parish  ? 

"  Why  should  these  people  do  other  than  delight  in 
me  ? — Why  should  they  perish  rather  than  forgive  the 
one  who  had  thrust  upon  them  honour  and  success  ?  " 


210  THE  GENTLE  ART 

«« And  the  moral  of  it  all  ?  " 

Mr.  Whistler  became  impressive — almost  imposing 
— as  he  stroked  his  moustache,  and  tried  to  hide  a 
smile  behind  his  hand. 

"  The  organisation  of  this  '  Royal  Society  of  British 
Artists,'  as  shown  by  its  very  name,  tended  perforce 
to  this  final  convulsion,  resulting  in  the  separation  of 
the  elements  of  which  it  was  composed.  They  could 
not  remain  together,  and  so  you  see  the  *  Artists '  have 
come  out,  and  the  *  British '  remain — and  peace  and 
sweet  obscurity  are  restored  to  Suffolk  Street! — 
Eh?  What?  Ha!  ha!" 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  211 


Statistics 


CJINCE  our  interview  with  Mr.  Whistler  curious 
statements  have  been  set  afloat  concerning  the  ques- 
tion of  finance  ....  giving  circumstantial  evidence 

*  July  6,  1888. 

of  the  disaster  brought  upon  the  Society  by  the  en- 
forcement of  the  Whistlerian  policy  : — 

This  evidence,  which  is  very  interesting,  is  as  fol- 
lows : — The  sales  of  the  Society  during  the  year  1 88 1 
were  under  ^5000  ;  1882,  under  ^"6000 ;  1883,  under 
^£7000  ;  1884,  under  ^"8000 ;  1885  (the  first  year  of 
Mr.  Whistler's  rule),  they  fell  to  under  ^4000  ;  1886, 
under  ^3000 ;  1887,  under  ^2000 ;  and  the  present 
year,  under  ^1000. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  fact  of  the  Society  having 
made  itself  responsible  to  Mr.  Whistler  for  a  loan 
raised  by  him  to  meet  a  sudden  expenditure  for  re- 
pairs, is  also  true ;  but  the  unwisdom  of  the  president 
and  members  of  any  society  having  money  transac- 


212  THE  GENTLE  ART 

tions  between  them  need  hardly  be  commented  upon 

here 

Mr.  Wyke  Bayliss,  the  new  president,  strikes  one 
as  being  "  a  strong  man  " — shrewd,  logical,  and  self- 
restrained.  The  author  of  several  books  and  pamphlets 
on  the  more  imaginative  realm  of  art,  he  is,  one  would 
say,  as  much  permeated  by  religion  as  he  is  by  art ;  to 
both  of  these  qualities,  curiously  enough,  his  canvases, 
which  usually  deal  with  cathedral  interiors  of  cheery 
hue,  bear  witness. 

The  hero  of  three  Bond  Street  "  one-man  exhibi- 
tions," a  Board-school  chairman,  a  lecturer,  champion 
chess-player  of  Surrey,  a  member  of  the  Rochester 
Diocesan  Council,  a  Shaksperian  student,  a  Fellow  of 
the  Society  of  Cyclists,  a  Fellow  of  the  Society  of 
Antiquarians,  and  public  orator  of  Noviomagus  .... 
he  is  surely  one  of  the  most  versatile  men  who  ever 
occupied  a  presidential  chair 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  213 


A  Retrospect 

TO  THE  EDITOR 
OF  THE  "PALL  MALL  GAZETTE": 

,— The  Royal  Society  of  British  Artists  is,  per- 
haps, by  this  time  again  unknown  to  your  agitated 
readers — but  I  would  recall  a  brilliant  number  of  the 
Pall  Mall  Gazette  (July  1888),  in  which  mischievous 
amusement  was  sought,  with  statistics  from  a  newly 
elected  President — Mr.  Bayliss  (Wyke). 

Believing  it  to  be,  in]an  official  and  dull  way,  more 
becoming  that  the  appointed  Council  of  this  same 
Society  should  deal  with  the  resulting  chaos,  I  have, 
until  now,  waited  for  a  slight  washing  of  hands,  as 
who  should  say,  on  their  part  as  representing  the 
gentle  deprecation  of,  I  assure  you,  the  respectable 
body  in  Suffolk  Street. 

Well,  no! — It  was  doubtless  adjudged  wiser,  or 
milder,  to  "  live  it  down,"  and  now  it,  I  really  believe, 


214  THE  GENTLE  ART 

behoves  me,  in  a  weary  way,  to  remind  you  of  the 
document  in  question,  and,  for  the  sake  of  common- 
place, uninteresting,  and  foolish  fact,  to  lift  up  my 
parable  and  declare  fallacious  that  which  was  supposed 
to  be  true,  and  generally  to  bore  myself,  and  perhaps- 
even  you,  the  all-patient  one,  with  what,  I  fear,  we 
others  care  but  little  for — parish  matters. 

In  the  article,  then,  entitled  "  The  Royal  Society 
of  British  Artists  and  its  Future — An  Interview  with 
the  New  President" — a  most  appalling  volley  of 
figures  was  fired  off  at  bntle-pour-point  distance. 
Under  this  deafening  detonation  I,  haviDg  no  habit, 
sat  for  days  incapable — dreaming  vaguely  that  when 
a  President  should  see  fit  to  wash  his  people's  linen 
in  the  open,  there  must  be  indeed  crime  at  least  on 
the  part  of  the  offender  at  whose  instigation  such 
official  sacrifice  of  dignity  could  come  about.  /  was 
the  offender,  and  for  a  while  I  sincerely  believed  that 
disaster  had  been  brought  upon  this  Royal  Society 
by  my  own  casual  self.  But  behold,  upon  closer 
inspection,  these  threatening  figures  are  meretricious 
and  misleading,  as  was  the  building  account  of  the 
early  Philanthropist  who,  in  the  days  of  St.  Paul, 
meant  well,  and  was  abruptly  discouraged  by  that 
clear-headed  apostle. 

Mr.  Bayliss  tells  us  that :  "  The  sales  of  the  Society 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  215. 

during  the  year  1881  were  under,"  whatever  that  may 
mean,  ";£  5000  ;  1882,  under  ^6000;  1883,  under 
^7000  ;  1884,  under  ^8000  ;  in  1885  ('  the  first  year 
of  Mr.  Whistler's  rule ')  they  fell  to  under  ^4000 ; 
1886,  under  ^3000;  1887,  under  ^2000;  and  the 
present  year,  under  ^1000." 

But  also  Mr.  Bayliss  takes  this  rare  occasion  of 
attention,  to  assert  his  various  qualifications  for  his 
post  as  head  of  painters  in  the  street  of  Suffolk,  and 
so  we  learn  that  he  is  : — 

"  Chairman  of  the  Board-school  in  his  own  district,"' 
"  Champion  chess-player  of  Surrey,"  "A  member  of 
the  Diocesan  Council  of  Bochester,"  "  Fellow  of  the 
Society  of  Cyclists,"  and  "Public  Orator  of  Novio- 
magus." 

As  chess-player  he  may  have  intuitively  bethought 
himself  of  a  move — possibly  the  happy  one, — who 
knows  ? — which  in  the  provinces  obtained  him  a 
cup  ;  as  Diocesan  Councilman  he  may  have  supposed 
Rochester  indifferent  to  the  means  used  for  an  end  'r 
but  as  Public  Cyclist  of  the  Boyal  Society  of  Novio- 
magus  his  experience  must  be  opposed  to  any  such 
bluff  as  going  his  entire  pile  on  a  left  bower  only ! 

When  I  recovered  my  courage — what  did  I  find  ? 
— first  my  unimpaired  intelligence,  and  then  my 
memory. 


216  THE  GENTLE  ART 

Now,  to  my  intelligence,  it  becomes  patent  that 
the  chairman  of  a  Clapham  School-board,  proposes  by 
his  figures  to  prove,  that  the  income  of  the  sacrificed 
Society  had  of  late  years  steadily  increased  : — "  In 
1881,  under  ^5000;  1882,  under  ^£6000;  1883, 
tinder  ^£7000 ;  1884,  under  ^8000,"  until,  under  the 
baneful  reign  of  terror  and  Whistler  in  1885 — "the 
first  year  "  of  the  sacrilegious  era — the  receipts  fell 
to  ^4000 — and  have  continued  to  decrease  until,  in 
this  present  year,  they  fall  to  the  miserable  sum  of 
under  a  thousand  pounds — a  revelation !  discreet, 
statesmanlike,  and  worthy  the  orator  at  his  best ! 

Unfortunately  for  the  triumph  of  such  audacious 
demonstration,  my  revived  memory  points  out  that 
Mr.  Whistler  was  only  elected  President  in  June 
1886,  and,  in  conformity  with  the  ancient  rules  and 
amusing  customs  of  the  venerable  body,  only  came 
into  office  six  months  afterwards — that  is,  practically, 
in  January  1887.  Again,  with  this  last  exhibition,  he, 
as  everybody  knows,  had  nothing  whatever  to  do. 

Immediately,  therefore,  the  conclusion  is  "  quite 
other"  than  that  put  forth  by  the  Cyclist  of  his 
suburb,  and  we  arrive  at  the,  for  once,  not  unamusing 
"fact"  that  the  disastrous  and  simple  Painter 
Whistler  only  took  in  hand  the  reins  of  government 
at  least  a  year  after  the  former  driver  had  been 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  217 

pitched  from  his  box,  and  half  the  money-bags  had 
been  already  lost! — from  ^8000  to  ^4000  at  one 
fatal  swoop !  and  the  beginning  of  the  end  had  set 
in !  Indeed,  this  may  have  been  one  of  the  strong 
reasons  for  his  own  election  by  an  overwhelming 
minority  of  hysterical  and  panic-stricken  passengers. 

Now,  though  he  did  his  best,  and  cried  aloud  that 
the  coach  was  safe,  and  called  it  Royal,  and  proposed 
to  carry  the  mail,  confidence,  difficult  to  restore, 
waited  for  proof,  and  although  fresh  paint  was  spread 
upon  the  panels,  and  the  President  coachman  wore  his 
hat  with  knowing  air,  on  one  side  and  handled  the 
ribbons  lightly,  and  dandled  the  drag,  inviting  jauntily 
the  passer-by,  the  public  recognized  the  ramshackle 
old  "conveyance,"  and  scoffingly  refused  to  trust  them- 
selves in  the  hearse. 

"  Four  thousand  pounds !  "  down  it  went — .£3000 
— ,£2000 — the  figures  are  Wyke's — and  this  season, 
the  ignominious  "^£1000  or  under,"  is  none  of  my 
booking  !  and  when  last  I  saw  the  mad  machine  it  was 
still  cycling  down  the  hill. 


2i8  THE  GENTLE  ART 


The  New  Dynasty 

gIR, — Pray  accept  my  compliments,  and  be  good 
enough  to  inform  me  at  once  by  whose  authority,  and 
upon  what  pretence,  the  painting,  designed  and  exe- 
cuted by  myself,  upon  the  panel  at  the  entrance  of  the 
galleries  of  Suffolk  Street,  has  been  defaced.  Tam- 
pering with  the  work  of  an  artist,  however  obscure, 
is  held  to  be,  in  what  might  be  called  the  international 
laws  of  the  whole  Art  world,  so  villainous  an  offence, 
that  I  must  at  present  decline  to  entertain  the  respon- 
sibility of  the  very  distinguished  and  Royal  Society  of 
British  Artists,  for  what  must  be  due  to  the  rash,  and 
ill-considered,  zeal  of  some  enthusiastic  and  untutored 
underling. 

Awaiting  your  reply,  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  Sir, 
your  obedient,  humble  servant, 


'.Ujrram  to  Council 
'Royal  Society  of 

To  THE  HON.  SECRETARY 
OF  THE  ROYAL  SOCIETY  OF  BRITISH  ARTISTS, 

left  in  charge  of  a 

March  30,  1889.  brother  Artist's  work,  and  upon 

"•"ceful  bearing  as  officers  to—* 
President.— WHISTLER. 


, 
graceful  bearing  as  officers  toward  their 

late 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  219 


An  Embroidered  Interview 


""YV"ELL,  Mr.  Whistler,  they  say  they  only  painted 

out  your  butterfly  from  the  signboard,  and  changed  A?ril  3. 1889. 

the  date.     What  do  you  say  ?  " 

"  What  do  I  say  ?     That  they  have  been  guilty  of 
an  act  of  villainous  Vandalism. " 

"  Will  you  tell  me  the  history  of  the  Board  ?  " 
"When  I  was  elected  to  the  presidency  of  the 
Society  I  offered  to  paint  a  signboard  which  should 
proclaim  to  the  passer-by  the  name  and  nature  of  the 
Society.  My  offer  was  accepted,  and  the  Board  was 
sent  down  to  my  studio,  where  I  treated  it  as  I  should 
a  most  distinguished  sitter — as  a  picture  or  an  etching 
— throwing  my  artistic  soul  into  the  Board,  which 
gradually  became  a  Board  no  longer,  as  it  grew  into  a 
picture.  You  say  they  say  it  was  only  a  butterfly. 
Mendacity  could  go  no  further.  I  painted  a  lion  and 
a  butterfly.  The  lion  lay  with  the  butterfly — a  har- 
mony in  gold  and  red,  with  which  I  had  taken  as 


220  THE  GENTLE  ART 

much  trouble  as  I  did  with  the  best  picture  I  ever 
painted.  And  now  they  have  clothed  my  golden  lion 
clumsily,  awkwardly,  and  timorously  with  a  dirty 
coat  of  black.  My  butterfly  has  gone,  the  checks 
and  lines,  which  I  had  treated  decoratively,  have  dis- 
appeared. Am  I  not  justified  in  calling  it  a  piece  of 
gross  Vandalism  ?  " 

"  What  course  would  you  have  recommended  ? 
You  had  gone  ;  the  Board  remained  :  perhaps  it  was 
weather-beaten — what  could  they  do  ?  " 

"  They  should  have  taken  the  Board  down,  sir, 
taken  the  Board  down,  not  dared  to  destroy  my  work 
— taken  the  Board  down,  returned  it  to  me,  and  got 
another  Board  of  their  own  to  practise  on.  Good 
heavens !  You  say  to  my  face  it  was  only  a  Board. 
You  say  they  only  painted  out  my  butterfly.  It  is 
as  if  you  were  condoling  with  a  man  who  had  been 
robbed  and  stripped,  and  said  to  him,  '  Never  mind. 
It  is  well  it  is  no  worse.  You  have  escaped  easily. 
Why,  you  might  have  had  your  throat  cut.' " 

And  Mr.  Whistler's  Mephistophelian  form  disap- 
peared into  the  black  of  the  night. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  221 


The  "Pall  Mall"  Puzzled 


]y[E,.  WHISTLER  begs  me  to  insert  the  following 
note  exactly  as  it  stands.  I  haven't  the  slightest  idea 
what  it  means,  but  here  it  is  with  "mes  compli- 
ments":— 

"To  THE  INTERVIEWER  OF  THE  Pall  Mall  Gazette: 

"  Good !  very  good  !  Prettily  put,  as  becomes  the 
Pall  Mall,  and  yet  you  cannot  be  reproached  with 
being  *  too  fine  for  your  audience ! ' 

"  I  wish  I  could  say  these  things  as  you  do  for  me, 
even  at  the  risk  of,  at  last,  being  understood.  Mes 
Compliments  I " 


THE  GENTLE  ART  OF  MAKING  ENEMIES    223 


Official  Bumbledom 


CJIR, — As  you  have  considered  Mr.  Whistler's  letter 
worthy  of  publication,  I  ask  you  to  complete  the  pub- 
lication by  inserting  this  simple  statement  of  the  facts 
as  they  occurred.  The  notice  board  of  the  Royal 
Society  of  British  Artists  bears  on  a  red  ground,  in 
letters  of  gold,  the  title  of  the  Society.  To  this  Mr. 
Whistler,  during  his  presidency,  added  with  his  own 
hand  a  decorative  device  of  a  lion  and  a  butterfly. 
On  the  eve  of  our  private  view  it  was  found  that, 
while  the  title  of  the  Society,  being  in  pure  gold, 
remained  untarnished,  Mr.  Whistler's  designs,  being 
executed  in  spurious  metals,  had  nearly  disappeared, 
and  what  little  remained  of  them  was  of  a  dirty 
brown.  The  board  could  not  be  put  up  in  that  state. 
The  lion,  however,  was  not  so  badly  drawn  as  to  make 
it  necessary  to  do  anything  more  than  restore  it  in 
permanent  colour,  and  that  has  accordingly  been  done. 
But  as  the  notice  board  was  no  longer  the  actual  work 


224  THE  GENTLE  ART 

of  Mr.  Whistler,  it  would  manifestly  have  been  im- 
proper to  have  left  the  butterfly  (his  well-known 
signature)  attached  to  it,  even  if  it  had  not  appeared 
in  so  crushed  a  state.  The  soiled  butterfly  was  there- 
fore effaced. 

Yours,  &c., 

WYKE  BAYLISS, 

CLAPHAM. 
April  i,  1889. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  225 


^  Aiis  si  que  diable  allait-il  faire  dans 
cette  galere  ?  " 

QIR, — I  have  read  Mr.  Bayliss's  letter,  and  am  dis- 
armed. I  feel  the  folly  of  kicking  against  the  parish 
pricks.  These  things  are  right  in  Clapham,  by  the 

The  Morning  Post,    COmniOn. 

"  Via  ce  que  c'est,  c'est  bien  fait — 
Falla.it pas  qu'il  y  aille !  fallait pas  quily  aille!" 

And  when,  one  of  these  days,  all  traces  of  history 
shall,  by  dint  of  much  turpentine,  and  more  Bayliss, 
have  been  effaced  from  the  board  that  "belongs  to 
us,"  I  shall  be  justified,  and  it  will  be  boldly  denied 
by  some  dainty  student  that  the  delicate  butterfly 
was  ever  "soiled  "  in  Suffolk  Street. 

Yours,  &c., 


226  THE  GENTLE  ART 


The  Royal  Society  of  British  Artists 
and  their  Signboard 

QIR, — The  moment  has  now  arrived  when,  it  seems 
to  me  proper  that,  in  your  journal,  one  of  the  recog- 
nized  Art  organs  of  the  country,  should  be  recorded 
the  details  of  an  incident  in  which  the  element  of 
grave  offence  is,  not  unnaturally,  quite  missed  by  the 
people  in  their  indignation  at  the  insignificance  of  the 
object  to  which  public  attention  has  so  unwarrantably 
been  drawn — a  "  notice  board  " ! — the  common  sign 
of  commerce ! 

Now,  however  slight  might  be  the  value  of  the  work 
in  question  destroyed,  it  is  surely  of  startling  interest 
to  know  that  wwk  may  be  destroyed,  or  worse  still, 
defaced  and  tampered  with,  at  the  present  moment  in 
full  London,  with  the  joyous  approval  of  the  major 
part  of  the  popular  press. 

I  leave  to  your  comment  the  fact  that  in  this 
instance  the  act  is  committed  with  the  tacit  consent 
of  a  body  of  gentlemen  officially  styled  "  artists,"  at 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  227 

the  instigation  of  their  president,  as  he  unblushingly 
acknowledges,  and  will  here  distinctly  state  that  the 
"  notice  board  of  the  Royal  Society  of  British  Artists  " 
did  not  "  bear  on  a  red  ground,  in  letters  of  gold,  the 
title  of  the  Society,"  and  that  "  to  this  Mr.  Whistler, 
during  his  presidency,"  did  not  "  add  with  his  own 
hand  a  decorative  device  of  a  lion  and  a  butterfly." 
This  damning  evidence,  though  in  principle  irrele- 
vant— for  what  becomes  of  the  soul  of  a  "Diocesan 
member  of  the  Council  of  Clapham  "  is,  artistically, 
a  matter  of  small  moment — I  nevertheless  bring  for- 
ward as  the  only  one  that  will  at  present  be  at  all 
considered  or  even  understood. 

The  "  notice  board "  was  of  the  familiar  blue 
enamel,  well  known  in  metropolitan  use,  with  white 
lettering,  announcing  that  the  exhibition  of  the  Incor- 
porated Society  of  British  Artists  was  held  above,  and 
that  for  the  sum  of  one  shilling  the  public  might  enter. 

I  myself  mixed  the  "  red  ground,"  and  myself 
placed,  "  in  letters  of  gold,  the  "  new  "  title  "  upon  it 
— in  proper  relation  to  the  decorative  scheme  of  the 
whole  design,  of  which  it  formed  naturally  an  all- 
important  feature.  The  date  was  that  of  the  Society's 
Royal  grant,  and  in  commemoration  of  its  new  birth. 
With  the  offending  Butterfly,  it  has  now  been  effaced 
in  one  clean  sweep  of  independence,  while  the  lion, 


228  THE  GENTLE  ART 

"  not  so  badly  drawn,"  was  differently  dealt  with- 
it  was  found  not  ,"  necessary  to  do  anything  more 
than  restore  it  in  permanent  colour,  and  that,"  with 
a  bottle  of  Brunswick  black,  "  has  accordingly  been 
done " ;  and,  as  Mr/  Bayliss  adds,  with  unpremedi- 
tated truth,  in  the  thoughtless  pride  of  achieve- 
ment, "  the  notice  board  was  no  longer  the  actual 
work  of  Mr.  Whistler  !  " 

This  exposure  of  Mr.  Bayliss's  direct  method  I 
have  wickedly  withheld,  in  order  that  the  Philis- 
tine impulse  of  the  country  should  declare  itself 
in  all  its  freshness  of  execration  before  it  could  be 
checked  by  awkward  discovery  of  mere  mendacity, 
and  a  timid  sense  of  danger,  called  justice. 

Everything  has  taken  place  as  I  pleasantly  fore- 
saw, and  there  is  by  this  time,  with  the  silent  ex- 
ception of  one  or  two  cautious  dailies,  scarcely  a  lay 
paper  in  the  land  that  has  been  able  to  refrain  from 
joining  in  the  hearty  yell  of  delight  at  the  rare  chance 
of  coarsely,  publicly,  and  safely  insulting  an  artist ! 
In  this  eagerness  to  affront  the  man  they  have  irre- 
trievably and  ridiculously  committed  themselves  to 
open  sympathy  with  the  destruction  of  his  work. 

I  wish  coldly  to  chronicle  this  fact  in  the  archives 
of  the  Athenceum  for  the  future  consideration  of  the 
cultured  New  Zealander. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  229 


An  Official  Letter 

gIR, — I  beg  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter, 
officially  informing  me  that  the  Committee  award  me 
a  second-class  gold  medal. 

Pray  convey  my  sentiments  of  tempered  and  re- 
spectable joy  to  the  gentlemen  of  the  Committee,  and 
my  complete  appreciation  of  the  second-hand  compli- 
ment paid  me. 

And  I  have,  Sir, 

The  honour  to  be 
Your  most  humble,  obedient  servant, 

J.  McNEILL  WHISTLER. 


To  THE  IST  SECRETARY, 

CENTRAL  COMMITTEE, 
INTERNATIONAL  ART  EXHIBITION,  MUNICH. 


230  THE  GENTLE  ART 


The  Home  of  Taste 

The  Ideas  of  Mr.  Blankety  Blank  on  House 
Decoration 

other  day  I  happened  to  call  on  Mr.  Blank, — 
Japanese  Blank,  you  know,  whose  house  is  in  far 
Fulham.  The  garden  door  flew  open  at  my  summons, 
and  my  eye  was  at  once  confronted  with  a  house,  the 
hue  of  whose  face  reminded  me  of  a  Venetian  palazzo, 
for  it  was  of  a  subdued  pink If  the  ex- 
terior was  Venetian,  however,  the  interior  was  a 
compound  of  Blank  and  Japan.  Attracted  by  the 
curiously  pretty  hall,  I  begged  the  artist  to  explain 
this — the  newest  style  of  house  decoration. 

I  need  not  say  that  Blank,  being  a  man  of  an 
original  turn  of  mind,  with  the  decorative  bump 
strongly  developed,  holds  what  are  at  present  peculiar 
views  upon  wall  papers,  room  tones,  and  so  on.  The 
day  is  dark  and  gloomy,  yet  once  within  the  halls  of 
Blank  there  is  sweetness  and  light. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  231 

You  must  look  through  the  open  door  into  a 
luminous  little  chamber  covered  with  a  soft  wash  of 
lemon  yellow. 

From  the  antechamber  we  passed  through  the  open 
door  into  a  large  drawing-room,  of  the  same  soft 
lemon-yellow  hue.  The  blinds  were  down,  the  fog 
reigned  without,  and  yet  you  would  have  thought  that 
the  sun  was  in  the  room. 

Here  let  me  pause  in  my  description,  and  put  on 
record  the  gist  of  our  conversation  concerning  the 
Home  of  Taste. 

"  Now,  Mr.  Blank,  would  you  tell  me  how  you 
came  to  prefer  tones  to  papers  ?  " 

"  Here  the  walls  used  to  be  covered  with  a  paper  of 
a  sombre  green,  which  oppressed  me  and  made  me 
sad,"  said  Blank.  '  Why  cannot  I  bring  the  sun  into 
the  house,'  I  said  to  myself,  '  even  in  this  land  of  fog 
and  clouds  ?  '  Then  I  thought  of  my  experiment  and 
invoked  the  aid  of  the  British  house-painter.  He 
brought  his  colours  and  his  buckets,  and  I  stood  over 
him  as  he  mixed  his  washes. 

"  One  night,  when  the  work  was  nearing  completion, 
one  of  them  caught  sight  of  himself  in  the  mirror, 
and  remarked  with  astonishment  upon  the  loveliness 
of  his  own  features.  It  was  the  lemon-yellow  beauti- 
fying the  British  workman's  flesh  tones. 


232  THE  GENTLE  ART 

"  I  assure  you  the  effect  of  a  room  full  of  people  in 
evening  dress  seen  against  the  yellow  ground  is  ex- 
traordinary, and,"  added  Blank,  "  perhaps  flattering." 

"Then  do  I  understand  that  you  would  remove  all 
wall  papers  ?  " 

"A  good  ground  for  distemper,"  chuckled  Mr. 
Blank. 

"  But  you  propose  to  inaugurate  a  revolution." 

"  I  don't  go  so  far  as  that,  but  I  am  glad  to  be  able 
to  introduce  my  ideas  of  house  furnishing  and  house 
decoration  to  the  public,"  said  Blank,  "and  I  may 
tell  you  that  when  I  go  to  America  with  my  Paris 
pictures,  I  shall  try  and  decorate  a  house  according  to 
my  own  ideas,  and  ask  the  Americans  to  think  about 
the  matter." 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  233 


Another  Poacher  in  the  Chelsea  Preserves 


ATLAS, — Nothing  matters  but  the  unimportant; 
so,  at  the  risk  of  advertising  an  Australian  immigrant 
of  Fulham — who,  like  the  Kangaroo  of  his  country. 

J1    Dec.  26,  1888. 

is  born  with  a  pocket  and  puts  everything  into  it — 
and,  in  spite  of  much  wise  advice,  we  ought  not  to 
resist  the  joy  of  noticing  how  readily  a  hurried  con- 
temporary has  fallen  a  prey  to  its  superficial  know- 
ledge of  its  various  departments,  and,  culminating  in  a 
"  Special  Edition  "  last  week  to  embody  a  lengthy  in- 
terview headed  "  The  Home  of  Taste,"  has  discovered 
again  the  nest  of  the  mare  that  was  foaled  years  ago ! 
How,  by  the  way,  so  smart  a  paper  should  have 
printed  its  naif  emotions  of  ecstasy  before  the  false 
colours  which  the  "Kangaroo"  has  hoisted  over  his 
bush,  defies  all  usual  explanation,  but  clearly  the  jaunty 
reporter  whose  impudent  familiarity,  on  a  former 
memorable  occasion,  achieved  my  wondering  admira- 
tion, must  have  been,  in  stress  of  business,  replaced 


234  THE  GENTLE  ART 

by  a  novice  who  had  never  breakfasted  with  you  and 
me,  Atlas,  and  the  rest  of  the  world,  in  the  "  lemon- 
yellow,"  of  whose  beautiful  tone  he  now,  for  the  first 
time,  is  so  completely  convinced. 

The  "hue"  on  the  "face"  of  the  Eulhani 
"  Palazzo ;>  he  moreover  calls  "  Venetian,"  and  is 
pleased  with  it — and  so  was  I,  Atlas — -for  I  mixed  it 
myself! 

And  yet,  O  Atlas,  they  say  that  I  cannot  keep  a 
friend — my  dear,  I  cannot  afford  it — and  you  only 
keep  for  me  their  scalps ! 

"  Many,  when  a  thing  was  lent  them,  reckoned  it 
to  be  found,  and  put  them  to  trouble  that  helped 
them  :; 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  235 


A  Suggestion 

p^  CERTAIN  painter  has  given  himself  away  to 
an  American  journalist,  unless  that  gentleman  has 
romanced)  in  the  Philadelphia  Daily  News.  According  Truth, 
to  him  this  person  explained  how  he  managed  the 
press,  and  how  he  claimed  to  be  the  inventor  of  the 
system  associated  with  the  name  of  Mr.  Whistler. 
The  Art  clubs  and  the  studios  have  been  flooded  with 
the  Philadelphia  Daily  News.  Mr.  Whistler  sent  on  his 
own  copy  to  the  pretender,  with  the  following  note  : — 

"  You  will  blow  your  brains  out,  of  course.  Pigott  has  shown 
you  what  to  do  under  the  circumstances,  and  you  know  your  way 
to  Spain.  Good-bye ! " 


236  THE  GENTLE  ART 


The  Habit  of  Second  Nat^l,res 


Valiant  Tvutii,  —  Among  your  ruthless  ex- 
posures of  the  shams  of  to-day,  nothing,  I  confess, 
have  I  enjoyed  with  keener  relish  than  your  late  tilt 
at  that  arch-impostor  and  pest  of  the  period  —  the  all-  !»»•*. 
pervading  plagiarist  ! 

I  learn,  by  the  way,  that  in  America  he  may,  under 
the  "  Law  of  '84,"  as  it  is  called,  be  criminally  prose- 
cuted, incarcerated,  and  made  to.  pick  oakum,  as  he 
has  hitherto  picked  brains  —  and  pockets  ! 

How  was  it  that,  in  your  list  of  culprits,  you  omitted 
that  fattest  of  offenders  —  our  own  Oscar  ? 

His  methods  are  brought  again  freshly  to  my  mind, 
by  the  indefatigable  and  tardy  Romeike,  who  sends 
me  newspaper  cuttings  of  "  Mr.  Herbert  Vivian's 
Reminiscences,"  in  which,  among  other  entertaining 
anecdotes,  is  told  at  length,  the  story  of  Oscar  simu- 
lating the  becoming  pride  of  author,  upon  a  certain 
evening,  in  the  club  of  the  Academy  students,  and 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  237 

arrogating  to  himself  the  responsibility  of  the  lecture, 
with  which,  at  his  earnest  prayer,  I  had,  in  good 
fellowship,  crammed  him,  that  he  might  not  add  de- 
plorable failure  to  foolish  appearance,  in  his  anomalous 
position,  as  art-expounder,  before  his  clear-headed 
audience. 

He  went  forth,  on  that  occasion,  as  my  St.  John — 
but,  forgetting  that  humility  should  be  his  chief 
characteristic,  and  unable  to  withstand  the  unac- 
customed respect  with  which  his  utterances  were  re- 
ceived, he  not  only  trifled  with  my  shoe,  but  bolted 
with  the  latchet ! 

Mr.  Vivian,  in  his  book,  tells  us,  further  on,  that 
lately,  in  an  article  in  the  Nineteenth  Century  on  the 
"  Decay  of  Lying,"  Mr.  Wilde  has  deliberately  and  in- 
cautiously incorporated,  "without  a  word  of  comment," 
a  portion  of  the  well-remembered  letter  in  which,  after 
admitting  his  rare  appreciation  and  amazing  memory, 
I  acknowledge  that  "  Oscar  has  the  courage  of  the 
opinions.  ...  of  others  ! " 

My  recognition  of  this,  his  latest  proof  of  open 
admiration,  I  send  him  in  the  following  little  note, 
which  I  fancy  you  may  think  ct,  propos  to  publish,  as 
an  example  to  your  readers,  in  similar  circumstances, 
of  noble  generosity  in  sweet  reproof,  tempered,  as  it 
should  be,  to  the  lamb  in  his  condition : — 


238  THE  GENTLE  ART 

"  Oscar,  you  have  been  down  the  area  again,  I  see  ! 

"  I  had  forgotten  you,  and  so  allowed  your  hair  to 
grow  over  the  sore  place.  And  now,  while  I  looked 
the  other  way,  you  have  stolen  your  own  scalp  !  and 
potted  it  in  more  of  your  pudding. 

"Labby  has  pointed  out  that,  for  the  detected 
plagiarist,  there  is  still  one  way  to  self-respect  (besides 
hanging  himself,  of  course),  and  that  is  for  him  boldly 
to  declare,  '  Je  prends  mon  bien  la  ou  je  le  trouve.' 

"  You,  Oscar,  can  go  further,  and  with  fresh 
effrontery,  that  will  bring  you  the  envy  of  all  criminal 
confreres^  unblushingly  boast,  *  Moi,  je  prends  son  bien 
la  ou  je  le  trouve  !  '  ' 


CHELSEA. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  239 


In  the  Market  Place 

Cj  IB,, — I  can  hardly  imagine  that  the  public  are  in 
the  very  smallest  degree  interested  in  the  shrill 
shrieks  of  "  Plagiarism  "  that  proceed  from  time  to 
time  out  of  the  lips  of  silly  vanity  or  incompetent 
mediocrity. 

However,  as  Mr.  James  Whistler  has  had  the 
impertinence  to  attack  me  with  both  venom  and 
vulgarity  in  your  columns,  I  hope  you  will  allow  me 
to  state  that  the  assertions  contained  in  his  letters 
are  as  deliberately  untrue  as  they  are  deliberately 
offensive. 

The  definition  of  a  disciple  as  one  who  has  the 
courage  of  the  opinions  of  his  master  is  really  too 
old  even  for  Mr.  Whistler  to  be  allowed  to  claim  it, 
and  as  for  borrowing  Mr.  Whistler's  ideas  about  art, 
the  only  thoroughly  original  ideas  I  have  ever  heard 
him  express  have  had  reference  to  his  own  superiority 
as  a  painter  over  painters  greater  than  himself. 


2«o  THE  GENTLE  ART 

It  is  a  trouble  for  any  gentleman  to  have  to  notice 
the  lucubrations  of  so  ill-bred  and  ignorant  a  person 
as  Mr.  Whistler,  but  your  publication  of  his  insolent 
letter  left  me  no  option  in  the  matter. — I  remain, 
Sir,  faithfully  yours. 

OSCAR  WILDE. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  241 


Panic 


Q  TRUTH! — Cowed  and  humiliated,  I  acknowledge 
that  our  Oscar  is  at  last  original.  At  bay,  and  sublime 
in  his  agony,  he  certainly  has,  for  once,  borrowed 
from  no  living  author,  and  comes  out  in  his  own 
true  colours — as  his  own  "  gentleman." 

How  shall  I  stand  against  his  just  anger,  and  his 
damning  allegations !  for  it  must  be  clear  to  your 
readers,  that,  beside  his  clean  polish,  as  prettily  set 
forth  in  his  epistle,  I,  alas !  am  but  the  "  ill-bred  and 
ignorant  person,"  whose  "  lucubrations "  "it  is  a 
trouble  "  for  him  "  to  notice." 

Still  will  I,  desperate  as  is  my  condition,  point  out 
that  though  "impertinent,"  "venomous,"  and  "vul- 
gar," he  claims  me  as  his  "  master  " — and,  in  the  dock, 
bases  his  innocence  upon  such  relation  between  us. 

In  all  humility,  therefore,  I  admit  that  the  out- 
come of  my  "silly  vanity  and  incompetent  me- 
diocrity," must  be  the  incarnation  :  "  Oscar  Wilde." 

Q 


242  THE  GENTLE  ART 

Mea   culpa!   the    Gods    may  perhaps   forgive    and 

forget. 

To  you,  Truth — champion  of  the  truth — I  leave 
the  brave  task  of  proclaiming  again  that  the  story  of 
the  lecture  to  the  students  of  the  Royal  Academy 
was,  as  I  told  it  to  you,  no  fiction. 

In  the  presence  of  Mr.  Waldo  Story  did  Oscar 
make  his  prayer  for  preparation  ;  and  at  his  table  was 
he  entrusted  with  the  materials  for  his  crime. 

You  also  shall  again  unearth,  in  the  Nineteenth 
Century  Review  of  Jan.  1889,  page  37,  the  other 
appropriated  property,  slily  stowed  away,  in  an 
article  on  "  The  Decay  of  Lying " — though  why 
Decay ! 

To  shirk  this  matter  thus  is  craven,  doubtless; 
but  I  am  awe-stricken  and  tremble,  for  truly,  "  the 
rage  of  the  sheep  is  terrible !  " 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  243 


fast  Indignation 
QSCAR, — How  dare  you!     What  means  this  dis- 


Upon  perceiving  the 
Poet,  in  Polish  cap 

Restore  those  things  to  Nathan's,  and  never  again  befrogled,0andcoat' 

wonderfully  be- 

let  me  find   you   masquerading    the   streets    of   my  furred- 
Chelsea  in  the  combined  costumes  of   Kossuth  and 
Mr.  Mantalini  ! 


244  THE  GENTLE  ART 


An  Advanced  Critic 

TO  THE  EDITOR: 

> — I  find  myself  obliged  to  notice  the  critical 
review  of  the  "  Ten  o'Clock,"  that  appeared  in  your 
paper  (March  6). 

In  the  interest  of  my  publishers,  I  beg  to  state 
formally  that  the  work  has  not  as  yet  been  issued 
at  all — and  I  would  point  out  that  what  is  still  in 
the  hands  of  the  printer,  cannot  possibly  have  fallen 
into  the  fingers  of  your  incautious  contributor  ! 

The  early  telegram  is  doubtless  the  ambition  of  this 
smart,  though  premature  and  restless  one — but  he  is 
wanting  in  habit,  and  unhappy  in  his  haste  ! — What 
will  you  ?  The  Pall  Matt  and  the  people  have  been 
imposed  upon. 

Be  good  enough,  Sir,  to  insert  this  note,  lest  the 
public  suppose,  upon  your  authority,  that  the  "  Ten 
o'Clock,"  as  yet  unseen  in  the  window  of  Piccadilly, 
has,  in  consequence  of  this  sudden  summing  up,  been 
hurriedly  withdrawn  from  circulation. — I  am,  Sir, 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  245 


The  Advantage  of  Explanation 


TO  THE  EDITOR: 

QIR, — Just  three  weeks  after  publication  Mr.  Whist- 
ler "  finds  himself  obliged  to  notice  the  critical  review 
of  the  4  Ten  o'Clock '  that  appeared  in  your  paper." 
He  points  out  that  "  what  is  still  in  the  hands  of  the  p*u  M<M  Gazette, 

March  31,  1888. 

printer  cannot  possibly  have  fallen  into  the  fingers  of 
your  incautious  contributor."  I  do  not  pretend  to  be 
acquainted  with  the  multitudinous  matters  that  may 
be  in  the  hands  of  his  publishers'  printers.  But  I 
can  declare — and  you,  Sir,  will  corroborate  me — that 
a  printed  copy  of  Mr.  Whistler's  smart  but  mislead- 
ing lecture  was  placed  in  my  hands  for  review,  and, 
moreover,  that  the  notice  did  not  appear  until  the 
pamphlet  was  duly  advertised  by  Messrs.  Chatto  and 
Windus  as  ready.  It  is,  of  course,  a  matter  of  regret 
to  me  if,  as  Mr.  Whistler  suggests,  his  publishers' 
interests  are  likely  to  suffer  from  the  review ;  but  if 


246  THE  GENTLE  ART 

an  author's  work,  in  the  reviewer's  opinion,  be  full  of 
rash  statement  and  mischievous  doctrine,  the  pub- 
lishers must  submit  to  the  risk  of  frank  criticism. 
But  it  will  be  observed  that  Mr.  Whistler  is  merely 
seeking  to  create  an  impression  that  your  Reviewer 
never  saw  the  work  he  criticized,  which  is  surely  not 
a  creditable  position  to  take  up,  even  by  a  sensitive 
man  writhing  under  adverse  criticism. — I  am,  Sir, 
most  obediently, 

YOUR  REVIEWER. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  247 


Testimony 


TO  THE  EDITOR: 

j — My  apologies,  I  pray  you,  to  the  much  dis- 
turbed gentleman,  "  Your  Reviewer,"  who  complains 
that  I  have  allowed  "  iust  three  weeks  "  to  go  by  with-  P*UM*U  G**ette, 

April  7,  1888. 

out  noticing  his  writing. 

Le  me  hasten,  lest  he  be  further  offended,  to 
acknowledge  his  answer,  in  Saturday's  paper. 

After  much  matter,  he  comes  unexpectedly  upon  a 
clear  understanding  of  my  letter — "  It  will  be 
observed,"  he  says  naively,  "  that  Mr.  Whistler  is 
merely  seeking  to  create  an  impression  that  your 
Reviewer  never  saw  the  work  he  criticized," — herein 
he  is  completely  right,  this  is  absolutely  the  impres- 
sion I  did  seek  to  create — "  which,"  he  continues,  "  is 
surely  not  a  creditable  position  to  take  up  " — again  I 
agree  with  him,  and  admit  the  sad  spectacle  a 
"  Reviewer  "  presents  in  such  position. 


248  THE  GENTLE  ART 

He  further  "  declares,"  and  calls  upon  you,  Sir,  to 
"  corroborate  "  him,  "  that  a  printed  copy  of  Mr. 
Whistler's  misleading  lecture  was  placed  in  my  hands 
for  review  " — and  moreover,  that  "  the  notice  did  not 
appear  until  the  pamphlet  was  duly  advertised  by 
Messrs.  Chatto  and  Windus  as  ready." 

Pausing  to  note  that  if  the  lecture  had  not  seemed 
misleading  to  him,  it  would  surely  not  have  been 
worth  uttering  at  all,  I  come  to  the  copy  in  question — 
this  could  only  have  been  a  printed  proof,  quaintly 
acquired — as  will  be  seen  by  the  following  letter  from 
Messrs.  Chatto  and  Windus,  which  I  must  beg  you, 
Sir,  to  publish,  with  this  note, — as  it  deals  also  with 
the  remaining  point,  the  advertisement  of  the 
pamphlet, 

And,  I  am,  Sir, 


The  following  is  the  letter  from  Mr.  Whistler's 
publishers : — 

DEAR  SIR, — In  reply  to  your  question  we  have  to  say  that  we 
certainly  have  not  sent  out  any  copy  of  the  ' '  Ten  o'clock"  to  the 
press,  or  to  anybody  else  excepting  yourself.  The  work  is  still  in  the 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  249 

printers'  hands,  and  we  have  for  a  long  time  past  been  advertising  it 
only  as  "shortly"  to  be  published;  indeed,  only  a  few  proofs  have 
so  far  been  taken  from  the  type. 

Yours  faithfully, 

CHATTO  AND  WINDUS. 


250  THE  GENTLE  ART 


An  Apostasy 


speak  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing 
but  the  truth  may  iustly  be  required  of  the  average  Mr. 

Lecture  on  Art,  by 

witness;  it   cannot   be   expected,  it   should   not  be 


exacted,  of  any  critical  writer  or   lecturer   on   any  fortnightly 

*     Review,  June  188 

form  of  art  ..... 

....  And  it  appears  to  one  at  least  of  those 
unfortunate  "  outsiders  "  for  whose  judgment  or 
whose  "meddling"  Mr.  Whistler  has  so  imperial 
and  Olympian  a  contempt  ..... 

Let  us  begin  at  the  end,  as  all  reasonable  people 
always  do  :  we  shall  find  that  Mr.  Whistler  con- 
cedes to  Greek  art  a  place  beside  Japanese.  Now 
this,  on  his  own  showing,  will  never  do  ;  it  crosses, 
it  contravenes,  it  nullifies,  it  pulverizes  his  theory 
or  his  principle  of  artistic  limitation.  If  Japanese  REFLECTION: 
art  is  right  in  confining  itself  to  what  can  be 
"  broidered  upon  the  fan  "  —  and  the  gist  of  the  ^X? 

>3 

whole  argument  is  in  favour  of  this  assumption  — 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  251 

then  the  sculpture  which  appeals,  indeed,  first  of 
all  to  our  perception  of  beauty,  to  the  delight  of 
the  eye,  to  the  wonder  and  the  worship  of  the 
instinct  or  the  sense,  but  which  in  every  possible 
instance  appeals  also  to  far  other  intuitions  and  far 
other  sympathies  than  these,  is  as  absolutely  wrong, 
as  demonstrably  inferior,  as  any  picture  or  as  any 
carving  which  may  be  so  degenerate  and  so  debased 
as  to  concern  itself  with  a  story  or  a  subject. 
REFLECTION  Assuredly  Phidias  thought  of  other  things  than  "  ar- 
Ba*rl fs  biined!hshaii  rangements  "  *  in  marble — as  certainly  as  ^schylus 

the  Painter  cease 

to  see?  thought   of  other   things   than  "arrangements      in 

metre.  Nor,  I  am  sorely  afraid,  can  the  adored 
Velasquez  be  promoted  to  a  seat  "at  the  foot  of 
Fusi-yama."  Japanese  art  is  not  merely  the  in- 
comparable achievement  of  certain  harmonies  in 
colour ;  it  is  the  negation,  the  immolationt  the  anni- 
hilation of  everything  else.  By  the  code  which  accepts 
as  the  highest  of  models  and  of  masterpieces  the  cups 
and  fans  and  screens  with  which  "  the  poor  .world  " 
has  been  as  grievously  "pestered"  of  late  years  as 
ever  it  was  in  Shakespeare's  time  "  with  such  water- 
flies — "  diminutives  of  nature  " — as  excited  the  scorn 
of  his  moralizing  cynic,  Velasquez  is  as  unquestionably 
condemned  as  is  Raphael  or  Titian.  It  is  true  that 
this  miraculous  power  of  hand  (?)  f  makes  beautiful 


REFLECTION: 
and?c?esens/>fans 

and  Hamilton 


REFLECTION; 
t  Quite  hopeless  1 


252  THE  GENTLE  ART 

for   us   the  deformity   of   dwarfs,   and  dignifies  the 

degradation  of  princes  ;  but  that  is  not  the  question. 

It   is   true,   again,  that  Mr.  Whistler's  own  merest  *  REFLECTION: 

Whereby  it  would 

"  arrangements  "  in  colour  are  lovely  and  effective ;  * 

but  his  portraits,  to  speak  of  these  alone,  are  liable 

to  the  damning  and  intolerable   imputation  of  pos- 

sessing  not   merely  other   qualities  than  these;  but 

qualities  which  actually  appeal — I  blush  to  remember 

REFLECTION;  and  I  shudder  to  record  it — which  actually  appeal  to 

therefore,  5*        the  intelligence  t  and  the  emotions,  to  the  mind  and 

fessedly  does  not 

tei&t°e,temioV      heart  of  the  spectator.     It  would  be  quite  useless  for 
heart  of  the  Bard     Mr.  Whistler  to  protest — if  haply  he  should  be   so 

even  when  aided  by  »    <? 

bve/  disposed — that  he  never  meant  to  put  study  of 
character  and  revelation  of  intellect  into  his  portrait 
of  Mr.  Carlyle,  or  intense  pathos  of  significance  and 
tender  depth  of  expression  into  the  portrait  of  his 
own  venerable  mother.  The  scandalous  fact  re- 
mains, that  he  has  done  so ;  and  in  so  doing  has 
explicitly  violated  and  implicitly  abjured  the  creed 
and  the  canons,  the  counsels  and  the  catechism  of 

Japan 

And  when  Mr.  Whistler  informs  us  that  "  there 
never  was  an  artistic  period,"  we  must  reply  that  the 
statement,  so  far  as  it  is  true,  is  the  flattest  of  all 
possible  truisms  ;  for  no  mortal  ever  maintained  that 
there  ever  was  a  period  in  which  all  men  were  either 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  253 

good  artists  or  good  judges  of  art.  But  when  we  pass 
from  the  positive  to  the  comparative  degree  of  historic 
or  retrospective  criticism,  we  must  ask  whether  the 
lecturer  means  to  say  that  there  have  not  been  times 
REFLECTION;  when  ^he  general  standard  of  taste  and  iudgment. 

Of  course  I  do  J 

though'lnost'hn^u-  reason  and  perception,  was  so  much  higher  than  at 

dent  was  the  saying          ,  ,  .      ,  -  , 

ofiti-forthis  Art    other  times  and  such   periods  may  lustly  and  accu- 

truth  the  Poet  re-  J    J  J 

peopie!-junl  1888.  rately  be  defined  as  artistic.  If  he  does  mean  to  say 
this,  he  is  beyond  answer  and  beneath  confutation ; 
in  other  words,  he  is  where  an  artist  of  Mr.  Whistler's 
genius  and  a  writer  of  Mr.  Whistler's  talents  can  by 
no  possibility  find  himself.  If  he  does  not  mean  to 
say  this,  what  he  means  to  say  is  exactly  as  well  worth 
saying,  as  valuable  and  as  important  a  piece  of  infor- 
mation, as  the  news  that  Queen  Anne  is  no  more,  or 
that  two  and  two  are  not  generally  supposed  to  make 
five. 

But  if  the  light  and  glittering  bark  of  this  brilliant 
amateur  in  the  art  of  letters  is  not  invariably  steered 
with  equal  dexterity  of  hand  between  the  Scylla  and 
Charybdis  of  paradox  and  platitude,  it  is  impossible 
that  in  its  course  it  should  not  once  and  again  touch 
upon  some  point  worth  notice,  if  not  exploration. 
Even  that  miserable  animal  the  "  unattached  writer  " 
may  gratefully  and  respectfully  recognize  his  accurate 
apprehension  and  his  felicitous  application  of  well- 


254  THE  GENTLE  ART 

nigh  the  most  hackneyed  verse  in  all  the  range  of 
Shakespeare's — which  yet  is  almost  invariably  mis- 
construed and  misapplied — "  One  touch  of  nature 
makes  the  whole  world  kin  "  :  and  this,  as  the  poet 
goes  on  to  explain,  is  that  all,  with  one  consent,  prefer 
worthless  but  showy  novelties  to  precious  but  familiar 
possessions.  "This  one  chord  that  vibrates  with 
all,"  says  Mr.  "Whistler,  who  proceeds  to  cite  artistic 
examples  of  the  lamentable  fact,  "  this  one  unspoken 
sympathy  that  pervades  humanity,  is — Vulgarity." 
But  the  consequence  which  he  proceeds  to  indicate 
and  to  deplore  is  calculated  to  strike  his  readers  with 
a  sense  of  mild  if  hilarious  astonishment.  It  is  that 
men  of  sound  judgment  and  pure  taste,  quick  feelings 
and  clear  perceptions,  most  unfortunately  and  most 
inexplicably  begin  to  make  their  voices  "  heard  in  the 
land."  Person,  as  all  the  world  knows,  observed  of 
the  Germans  of  his  day  that  "  in  Greek  "  they  were 
11  sadly  to  seek."  It  is  no  discredit  to  Mr.  Whistler  if 
this  is  his  case  also  ;  but  then  he  would  do  well  to 
eschew  the  use  of  a  Greek  term  lying  so  far  out  of 
the  common  way  as  the  word  "  aesthete."  Not  merely  REFLECTION.- 
the  only  accurate  meaning,  but  the  only  possible  mean-  ierpomofse?nc 
ing,  of  that  word  is  nothing  more,  but  nothing  less,  than 
this — an  intelligent,  appreciative,  quick-witted  person ; 
in  a  word,  as  the  lexicon  has  it, "  one  who  perceives." 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  255 

The  man  who  is  no  aesthete  stands  confessed,  by  the 
logic  of  language  and  the  necessity  of  the  case,  as  a 
thick-witted,  tasteless,  senseless,  and  impenetrable 
blockhead.  I  do  not  wish  to  insult  Mr.  Whistler, 
but  I  feel  bound  to  avow  my  impression  that  there  is 
no  man  now  living  who  less  deserves  the  honour  of 
enrolment  in  such  ranks  as  these  —  of  a  seat  in  the 
synagogue  of  the  anaesthetic  ..... 

....  Such  abuse  of  language  is  possible  only  to 
the  drivelling  desperation  of  venomous  or  fangless 
duncery  :  it  is  in  higher  and  graver  matters,  of  wider 
bearing  and  of  deeper  import,  that  we  find  it  neces- 
sary to  dispute  the  apparently  serious  propositions  or 
assertions  of  Mr.  Whistler.  How  far  the  witty 
tongue  may  be  thrust  into  the  smiling  cheek  when 
the  lecturer  pauses  to  take  breath  between  these 
remarkably  brief  paragraphs  it  would  be  certainly 
indecorous  and  possibly  superfluous  to  inquire.  But 
his  theorem  is  unquestionably  calculated  to  provoke 
the  loudest  and  the  heartiest  mirth  that  ever  acclaimed 
•  is  not,  then,  the  the  advent  of  Momus  or  Erycina.  For  it  is  this—  that  my  »< 
adness  1  1?  Sic  «  Art  and  Joy  go  together,"  fond  that  f  tragic  art  is  find  thTs1asut-nis 

inger,  it  the  verse  »     °  °  &  own  incense* 

eWiful,  ^  ^  ^  ^  .....  quencer 

Certainly  the  fu-  J  f 

....  The  laughing  Muse  of  the  lecturer,  «  quam  5A 

T  .  -         „  ,  Tjfa 

J  ocus  circumvolat,   must  have  glanced  round  in  expec-  JHc^ 

deusith°          tation  of  the  general  appeal,  "  After  that  let  us  take 

The  Bard's  reasoning  is  of  the  People.  His  Tragedy  is  theirs.  As  one  of 
them,  The  man  may  weep—  yet  will  the  artist  rejoice—  for  to  him  is  not  "A 
thing  of  beauty  a  joy  for  erer  '  t 


lion's  sorrow  buried 


256  THE  GENTLE  ART 

breath."     And  having  done  so,  they  must  have  remem- 
bered that  they  were  not  in  a  serious  world ;  that  they 
REFLECTION:  were  in  the  fairyland  of  fans,  in  the  paradise  of  pipkins, 
Teeis°of  c^Ss,      in  the  limbo  of  blue  china,  screens,  pots,  plates,  jars,  joss-     REFLECTION 

silence,  the  only 

sider!!s°byhhimut~     houses,  and  all  the  fortuitous  frippery  of  Fusi-yama.       , 

refused— and  the  .  -.I-ITLT  •          i   •    i  i  collector] 

dignity  of  itfnor-          It  is  a  cruel  but  an  inevitable  .N emesis  which  reduces 

ance  lost  in  speech. 

£-  even  a  man  of  real  genius,  keen-witted  and  sharp- 
sighted,  to  the  level  of  the  critic  Jobson;  to  the  level 
of  the  dotard  and  the  dunce,  when  paradox  is  dis- 
coloured by  personality  and  merriment  is  distorted  by 
malevolence  (!)  No  man  who  really  knows  the  qualities 
of  Mr.  Whistler's  best  work  will  imagine  that  he  really 
believes  the  highest  expression  of  his  art  to  be  real- 
ized in  reproduction  of  the  grin  and  glare,  the  smirk 
and  leer,  of  Japanese  womanhood  as  represented  in  its 
professional  types  of  beauty  ;  but  to  all  appearance  he 
would  fain  persuade  us  that  he  does. 

In  the  latter  of  the  two  portraits  to  which  I  have 
already  referred  there  is  an  expression  of  living  cha- 
racter  This,  however,  is  an  exception  to  the 

general  rule  of  Mr.  Whistler's  way  of  work  :  an  excep- 
tion, it  may  be  alleged,  which  proves  the  rule.  A  single 
infraction  of  the  moral  code,  single  breach  of  artistic 
law,  suffices  to  vitiate  the  position  of  the  preacher. 
And  this  is  no  slight  escapade,  or  casual  aberration  ;  it 
is  a  full  and  frank  defiance,  a  deliberate  and  elaborate 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  257 

denial,  hurled  right  in  the  face  of  Japanese  jocosity, 
flung  straight  in  the  teeth  of  the  theory  which  con- 
demns high  art,  under  penalty  of  being  considered 
intelligent,  to  remain  eternally  on  the  grin. 

If  it  be  objected  that  to  treat  this  theorem  gravely 
is  "to  consider  too  curiously "  the  tropes  and  the 
phrases  of  a  jester  of  genius,  I  have  only  to  answer 
that  it  very  probably  may  be  so,  but  that  the  excuse 
for  such  error  must  be  sought  in  the  existence  of  the 
genius.  A  man  of  genius  is  scarcely  at  liberty  to  choose 
whether  he  shall  or  shall  not  be  considered  as  a  serious 
figure — one  to  be  acknowledged  and  respected  as  an 
equal  or  a  superior,  not  applauded  and  dismissed  as 
a  tumbler  or  a  clown.  And  if  the  better  part  of  Mr. 
Whistler's  work  as  an  artist  is  to  be  accepted  as  the 
work  of  a  serious  and  intelligent  creature,  it  would 
seem  incongruous  and  preposterous  to  dismiss  the  more 
characteristic  points  of  his  theory  as  a  lecturer  with 
the  chuckle  or  the  shrug  of  mere  amusement  or 
amazement.  Moreover,  if  considered  as  a  joke,  a  mere 
joke,  and  nothing  but  a  joke,  this  gospel  of  the  grin 
has  hardly  matter  or  meaning  enough  in  it  to  support 
so  elaborate  a  structure  of  paradoxical  rhetoric.  It 
must  be  taken,  therefore,  as  something  serious  in  the 
main ;  and  if  so  taken,  and  read  by  the  light  reflected 
from  Mr.  Whistler's  more  characteristically  brilliant 


REFLECTION.- 


excused  by  the 

"  Great  Emperor  i  • 


258  THE  GENTLE  ART 

canvases,  it  may  not  improbably  recall  a  certain  phrase 
of  Moliere's  which  at  once  passed  into  a  proverb  — 
"  Vous  etes  orfevre,  M.  Josse."  That  worthy  trades- 
man, it  will  be  remembered,  was  of  opinion  that 
nothing  could  be  so  well  calculated  to  restore  a  droop- 
ing young  lady  to  mental  and  physical  health  as  the 
present  of  a  handsome  set  of  jewels.  Mr.  Whistler's 
opinion  that  there  is  nothing  like  leather  —  of  a  jovial 
and  Japanese  design  —  savours  somewhat  of  the  Oriental 
cordwaiiier. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  259 


"Et  tu,  Brute!" 


,  0  brother!  did  you  not  consult  with  me 
before  printing,  in  the  face  of  a  ribald  world,  that 
you  also  misunderstand,  and  are  capable  of  saying  so, 
with  vehemence  and  repetition  ? 

Have  I  then  left  no  man  on  his  legs  ? — and  have  I 
shot  down  the  singer  in  the  far  off,  when  I  thought 
him  safe  at  my  side  ? 

Cannot  the  man  who  wrote  Atalanta — and  the 
Ballads  beautiful, — can  he  not  be  content  to  spend  his 
life  with  his  work,  which  should  be  his  love, — and  has 
for  him  no  misleading  doubt  and  darkness — that  he 
should  so  stray  about  blindly  in  his  brother's  flower- 
beds and  bruise  himself ! 

Is  life  then  so  long  with  him,  and  his  art  so 
short,  that  he  shall  dawdle  by  the  way  and  wander 
from  his  path,  reducing  his  giant  intellect — garru- 
lous upon  matters  to  him  unknown,  that  the  scoffer 
may  rejoice  and  the  Philistine  be  appeased  while  he 


260  THE  GENTLE  ART 

takes  up  the  parable  of  the  mob  and  proclaims  him- 
self their  spokesman  and  fellow-sufferer  ?  0  Brother  ! 
where  is  thy  sting !  0  Poet !  where  is  thy  victory ! 

How  have  I  offended !  and  how  shall  you  in  the 
midst  of  your  poisoned  page  hurl  with  impunity 
the  boomerang  rebuke  ?  "  Paradox  is  discoloured  by 
personality,  and  merriment  is  distorted  by  malevo- 
lence." 

Who  are  you,  deserting  your  Muse,  that  you  should 
insult  my  Goddess  with  familiarity,  and  the  manners 
of  approach  common  to  the  reasoners  in  the  market- 
place. "Hearken  to  me," you  cry,  ';  and  I  will  point 
out  how  this  man,  who  has  passed  his  life  in  her 
worship,  is  a  tumbler  and  a  clown  of  the  booths — how 
he  who  has  produced  that  which  I  fain  must  acknow- 
ledge— is  a  jester  in  the  ring  ! 

Do  we  not  speak  the  same  language?  Are  we 
strangers,  then,  or,  in  our  Father's  house  are  there  so 
many  mansions  that  you  lose  your  way,  my  brother, 
and  cannot  recognize  your  kin  ? 

Shall  I  be  brought  to  the  bar  by  my  own  blood,  and 
be  borne  false  witness  against  before  the  plebeian 
people  ?  Shall  I  be  made  to  stultify  myself  by  what 
I  never  said — and  shall  the  strength  of  your  testimony 
turn  upon  me  ?  "  If  " — "  If  Japanese  Art  is  right 
in  confining  itself  to  what  can  be  broidered  upon  the 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  261 

fan "  .  .  .  .  and  again  .  .  .  .  "  that  he  really  believes 
the  highest  expression  of  his  art  to  be  realized  in  re- 
production of  the  grin  and  glare,  the  smirk  and  leer  " 
....  and  further  ....  "  the  theory  which  con- 
demns high  art,  under  the  penalty  of  being  considered 
intelligent,  to  remain  eternally  on  the  grin  "  .  .  .  . 
and  much  more  ! 

"Amateur  writer!"  Well  should  I  deserve  the 
reproach,  had  I  ventured  ever  beyond  the  precincts 
of  my  own  science — and  fatal  would  have  been  the 
exposure,  as  you,  with  heedless  boldness,  have  un- 
wittingly proven. 

Art  tainted  with  philanthropy — that  better  Art 
result ! — Poet  and  Peabody  ! 

You  have  been  misled — you  have  mistaken  the  pale 
demeanour  and  joined  hands  for  an  outward  and 
visible  sign  of  an  inward  and  spiritual  earnestness. 
For  you,  these  are  the  serious  ones,  and,  for  them, 
you  others  are  the  serious  matter.  Their  joke  is  their 
work.  For  me — why  should  I  refuse  myself  the  grim 
joy  of  this  grotesque  tragedy — and,  with  them  now, 
you  all  are  my  joke ! 


262     THE  GENTLE  ART  OF  MAKING  ENEMIES 


Freeing  a  Last  Friend 


"D  RAVO  !  Bard  !  and  exquisitely  written,  I  suppose, 
as  becomes  your  state. 

The  scientific  irrelevancies  and  solemn  popularities, 
less  elaborately  embodied,  I  seem  to  have  met  with  TH*  world. 

Junes.  1888. 

before — in  papers  signed  by  more  than  one  serious  Letter  to  Mr. 

Swinburne. 

and  unqualified  sage,  whose  mind  also  was  not  nar- 
rowed by  knowledge. 

I  have  been  "  personal,"  you  say  ;  and,  faith  !  you 
prove  it ! 

Thank  you,  my  dear !  I  have  lost  a  confrere  ;  but, 
then,  I  have  gained  an  acquaintance — one  Algernon 
Swinburne — "  outsider  " — Putney. 


Editor  s  Anxiety 


264  THE  GENTLE  ART 


An  Editors  Anxiety 


TT  is  reported  that  Mr.  Whistler,  having  received 

word  that  a  drawing  of  his  had  been  rejected  by  the  Pali  M<M  Gazette, 

April  26.  1889. 

Committee  of  the  Universal  Exhibition,  arrived  yes- 
terday in  Paris  and  withdrew  all  his  remaining  works, 
including  an  oil  painting  and  six  drawings.  The 
French  consider  that  he  has  been  guilty  of  a  breach 
of  good  manners.  The  Paris,  for  instance,  points  out 
that,  after  sending  his  works  to  the  jury,  he  should 
have  accepted  their  judgment,  and  appealed  to  the 
public  by  other  methods. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  265 


Rassurez  vous  ! 


TO  THE  EDITOR: 

SIR,,— You  [are  badly  informed— a  risk   you   con- 
stantly  run  in  your  haste  for  pleasing  news. 

I  have  not  "  withdrawn "  my  works  "  from  the 
forthcoming  Paris  Exhibition." 

I  transported  my  pictures  from  the  American 
department  to  the  British  section  of  the  "  Exposi- 
tion Internationale,"  where  I  prefer  to  be  represented. 

"The  French"  have  nothing,  so  far,  to  do  with 
English  or  American  exhibits. 

A  little  paragraph  is  a  dangerous  thing. 

And  I  am,  Sir, 

CHELSEA. 


266  THE  GENTLE  ART 


Whistlers  Grievance 


AN  ENTRAPPED  INTERVIEW. 

'"THE  Herald  correspondent  saw  Mr.  Whistler  at 
the  Hotel  Suisse,  and  asked  the  artist  about  his 
affairs  with  the  American  Art  Jury  of  the  Exhibition. 

"I  believe  the  Herald  made  the  statement,"  said  ^g 
Mr.  Whistler,  "  that  I  had  withdrawn  all  my  etchings  Oct'3>l889 
and  a  full-length  portrait  from  the  American  section. 
It  all  came  about  in  this  way  :  In  the  first  place, 
before  the  pictures  were  sent  in,  I  received  a  note 
from  the  American  Art  Department  asking  me  to 
contribute  some  of  my  work.     It  was  at  that  time 
difficult  for  me  to  collect  many  of  my  works;  but 
I  borrowed  what  I  could  from  different  people,  and 
sent  in  twenty-seven  etchings  and  the  portrait." 

"  You  can  imagine  that  a  few  etchings  do  not  have 
any  effect  at  all ;  so  I  sent  what  I  could  get  together. 
Shortly  afterwards  I  received  a  note  saying :  '  Sir, — 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  267 

Ten  of  your  exhibits  have  not  received  the  approval 
of  the  jury.  Will  you  kindly  remove  them  ? ' " 

"  At  the  bottom  of  this  note  was  the  name 
'  Hawkins  ' — General  Hawkins,  I  believe — a  cavalry 
officer,  who  had  charge  of  the  American  Art  Depart- 
ment of  the  Exhibition. 

"  Well !  the  next  day  I  went  to  Paris  and  called 
at  the  American  headquarters  of  the  Exhibition.  I 
was  ushered  into  the  presence  of  this  gentleman, 
Hawkins,  to  whom  I  said  : — *  I  am  Mr.  Whistler,  and 
I  believe  this  note  is  from  you.  I  have  come  to  remove 
my  etchings ' ;  but  I  did  not  mention  that  my  work 
was  to  be  transferred  to  the  English  Art  Section." 

" '  Ah  ! '  said  the  gentleman — the  officer — *  we  were 
very  sorry  not  to  have  had  space  enough  for  all  your 
etchings,  but  we  are  glad  to  have  seventeen  and  the 
portrait." 

"  *  You  are  too  kind,'  I  said,  '  but  really  I  will  not 
trouble  you.' " 

"  Mr.  Hawkins  was  quite  embarrassed,  and  urged 
me  to  reconsider  my  determination,  but  I  withdrew 
every  one  of  the  etchings,  and  they  are  now  well  hung 
in  the  English  Department." 

"  I  did  not  mind  the  fact  that  my  works  were 
criticized,  but  it  was  the  discourteous  manner  in 
which  it  was  done.  If  the  request  to  me  had  been 


268  THE  GENTLE  ART 

made  in  proper  language,  and  they  had  simply  said : 
— *  Mr.  Whistler,  we  have  not  space  enough  for 
twenty-seven  etchings.  Will  you  kindly  select  those 
which  you  prefer,  and  we  shall  be  glad  to  have  them/ 
I  would  have  given  them  the  privilege  of  placing 
them  in  the  American  Section."  . 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  269 


"Whacking  Whistler" 


TN  an  interview  in  yesterday's  Herald  the  eccentric 
artist,  Mr.  J.  McNeill  Whistler,  "  jumped  "  in  a  most 
emphatic  manner  upon  General  Hawkins,  Commis- 
sioner of  the  American  Art  Department  at  the  Exhi-  New  Y 

Paris  Edition 

bition.  He  objects  to  the  General  for  being  a  cavalry  Oct<  4>  l889' 
officer;  refers  to  him  sarcastically  as  "  Hawkins,"  and 
declares  him  ignorant  of  the  most  elementary  prin- 
ciples alike  of  art  and  politeness — all  this  because  he, 
Whistler,  was  requested  by  the  Commissioner  to  re- 
move from  the  Exhibition  premises  some  ten  of  his 
rejected  etchings. 

In  a  spirit  of  fair  play  a  correspondent  called  upon 
General  Hawkins,  giving  him  an  opportunity,  if  he 
felt  so  disposed,  of  "jumping,"  in  his  turn,  on  his 
excitable  opponent.  The  General  did  feel  "  so  dis- 
posed," and  proceeded,  in  popular  parlance,  to  "  see  " 
Mr.  J.  McNeill  Whistler  and  "  go  him  one  better." 
In  this  species  of  linguistic  gymnastics,  by  the  way,  the 


270  THE  GENTLE  ART 

military  Commissioner  asks  no  odds  of  any  one.  He 
began  by  gently  remarking  that  Mr.  Whistler,  in  his 
published  remarks,  had  soared  far  out  of  the  domain 
of  strict  veracity.  This  was  not  bad  for  a  "  starter," 
and  was  ably  supported  by  the  following  detailed 
statement  :  — 

"  Mr.  Whistler  says  he  received  a  note  from  me. 
That  is  a  mistake.     I  have  never  in  my  life  written 
a  line  to  Mr.  Whistler.*     What  he  did  receive  was  a  m 
circular  with  my  name  printed  at  the  bottom.    These  wish  by  return  rnln 

you  would  send  de- 

circulars  were  sent  to  all  the  artists  who  had  pictures 


/»iii«  i  •  -i  have  titles  to  etch 

retused  by  the  jury,  and  contained  a  simple  request  J^fjgJ^S'/Sllu 
that  such  pictures  be  removed. 

Yours  faithfully, 

"  Our  way  of  doing  business  was  not,  it  seems,  up     RUSI?AWKINS, 
to  Mr.  Whistler's  standard  of  politeness,  so  he  got  nlSjpSSf 

6          March  29,  1889. 

angry  and  took  away,  not  only  the  ten  rejected  etch-  To^i 
ings,  but  seventeen  others  which  had  been  accepted. 
It  is  a  little  singular  that  among  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  artists  who  received  this  circular,  Mr. 
Whistler  should  have  been  the  only  one  to  discover 
its  latent  discourtesy.  How  great  must  be  Mr. 
Whistler's  capacity  for  detecting  a  snub  where  none 
exists  !  " 

"  In  any  case,  there  is  not  the  slightest  reason  for 
Mr.  Whistler's  venting  his  ire  upon  me.  I  had  no 
more  to  do  with  either  accepting  or  rejecting  his 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  271 

pictures  than  I  had  with  painting  them.  What  he 
sent  us  was  judged  on  its  merits  by  a  competent  and 
impartial  jury  of  his  peers.  If  there  were  ten  etch- 
ings rejected  it  only  shows  that  there  were  ten  etch- 
ings not  worthy  of  acceptance.  A  few  days  after  the 
affair  a  trio  of  journalists — not  all  men  either — came 
to  me,  demanding  that  I  reverse  this  l  iniquitous  deci- 
sion,' as,  they  styled  it.  I  told  these  three  prying 
scribblers  in  a  polite  way  that  if  they  would  kindly 
attend  to  their  own  affairs  I  would  try  to  attend  to 
mine.  In  this  connection,  I  may  remark  that  there 
are  in  Paris  a  number  of  correspondents  who  ought 
not  to  be  allowed  within  gun-shot  of  a  newspaper 
office." 

"  The  next  mis-statement  in  Mr.  Whistler's  inter- 
view is  in  regard  to  the  ultimate  disposal  of  his  im- 
portant etchings.  His  words  are : — '  Mr.  Hawkins 
was  quite  embarrassed,  and  urged  me  to  reconsider 
my  determination,  but  I  withdrew  every  one  of  the 
etchings,  and  they  are  now  well  hung  in  the  English 
department.' " 

"  Now,  I  leave  it  to  any  fair-minded  person  if  the 
plain  inference  from  this  statement  is  not  that  the 
whole  twenty-seven  etchings  were  accepted  by  the 
English  department.  If  not,  what  in  heaven's  name 
is  he  crowing  about  ?  But  the  truth  is  that  while  we 


272  THE  GENTLE  ART 

rejected  only  ten  of  his  etchings,  the  English  depart- 
ment rejected  eighteen  of  them,  and  of  the  nine 
accepted  only  hung  two  on  the  line.  Had  Mr. 
Whistler  been  the  possessor  of  a  more  even  temper 
and  a  little  more  common  sense,  he  would  have  had 
five  or  six  of  his  works  on  the  line  in  the  American 
department,  and  nearly  twice  as  many  on  exhibition 
than  is  actually  the  case.  Really,  I  fail  to  see  what 
he  gained  by  the  exchange,  unless  it  was  a  valuable 
experience.  He  says  I  was  embarrassed  when  I  saw 
him ;  I  fancy  he  will  be  embarrassed  when  he  sees 
these  facts  in  '  cold  type.' " 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  273 


"Whistlers  Grievance" 

TO  THE  EDITOR: 

, — I  beg  that  you  will  kindly  print  immediately 
these,  my  regrets,  that  General  Rush  Hawkins  should 
have  been  spurred  into  unwonted  and  unbecoming 
expression  by  what  I  myself  read  with  considerable  Afe»  York  Herald. 
bewilderment  in  the  New  York  Herald,  October  3, 
under  the  head  of  "  Whistler's  Grievance." 

I  can  assure  the  gallant  soldier  that  I  have  no 
grievance. 

Had  I  known  that,  when — over  what  takes  the 
place  of  wine  and  walnuts  in  Holland — I  remembered 
lightly  the  military  methods  of  the  jury,  I  was  being 
"interviewed,"  I  should  have  adopted  as  serious  a 
tone  as  the  original  farce  would  admit  of  ;  or  I  might 
have  even  refused  to  be  a  party  at  all  to  the  infliction 
upon  your  readers  of  so  old  and  threadbare  a  story  as 
that  of  the  raid  upon  the  works  of  art  in  the  American 
section  of  the  Universal  Exhibition. 

s 


274  THE  GENTLE  ART 

Your  correspondent,  I  fancy,  felt  much  more 
warmly,  than  did  I,  wrongs  that — who  knows  ? — are 
doubtless  rights  in  the  army  ;  and  my  sympathies,  I 
confess,  are  completely  with  the  General,  who  did 
only,  as  he  complains,  his  duty  in  that  state  of  life  in 
which  it  had  pleased  God,  and  the  War  Department, 
to  call  him,  when,  according  to  order,  he  signed  that 
naively  authoritative  note,  circular,  warrant,  or  what 
not — for  he  did  irretrievably  fasten  his  name  to  it, 
whether  with  pen  or  print,  thereby  hopelessly  making 
the  letter  his  own.  Thus  have  we  responsibility,  like 
greatness,  sometimes  thrust  upon  us. 

On  receipt  of  the  document  I  came — I  saw  the  com- 
manding officer,  who,  until  now,  I  fondly  trusted,  would 
ever  remember  me  as  pleasantly  as  I  do  himself — 
and,  knowing  despatch  in  all  military  matters  to  be  of 
great  importance,  I  then  and  there  relieved  him  of  the 
troublesome  etchings,  and  carried  off  the  painting. 

Tt  is  a  sad  shock  to  me  to  find  that  the  good  General 
speaks  of  me  without  affection,  and  that  he  evinces 
even  joy  when  he  says  with  a  view  to  my  entire  dis- 
comfiture : — "  While  we  rejected  only  ten  of  his  etch- 
ings,the  English  department  rejected  eighteen  of  them, 
and  of  the  nine  accepted,  only  hung  two  on  the  line." 
Now,  he  is  wrong ! — the  General  is  wrong. 
The  etchings  now  hanging  in  the  English  section — 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  275 

.and  perfect  is  their  hanging,  notwithstanding  General 
Hawkins's  flattering  anxiety — are  the  only  ones  I 
sent  there. 

In  the  haste  and  enthusiasm  of  your  interviewer, 
I  have,  on  this  point,  been  misunderstood. 

There  was  moreover  here  no  question  of  submitting 
them  to  a  "  competent  and  impartial  jury  of  his  peers  " 
— one  of  whom,  by  the  way,  I  am  informed  upon 
undoubted  authority,  had  never  before  come  upon  an 
"etching"  in  his  hitherto  happy  and  unchequered 
"Western  career. 

We  all  knew  that  the  space  allotted  to  the  English 
department  was  exceedingly  limited,  and  each  one 
refrained  from  abusing  it.  Here  I  would  point  out 
again,  hoping  this  time  to  be  clearly  understood,  that, 
had  the  methods  employed  in  the  American  camp 
been  more  civil,  if  less  military,  all  further  difficulties 
might  have  been  avoided.  Had  I  been  properly 
advised  that  the  room  was  less  than  the  demand  for 
place,  I  would,  of  course,  have  instantly  begged  the 
gentlemen  of  the  jury  to  choose,  from  among  the  num- 
ber, what  etchings  they  pleased.  So  the  matter  would 
have  ended,  and  you,  Sir,  would  have  been  without 
this  charming  communication  ! 

The  pretty  embarrassment  of  General  Hawkins  on 
the  occasion  of  my  visit,  I  myself  liked,  thinking  it 


276  THE  GENTLE  ART 

seemly,  and  part  of  the  good  form  of  a  West  Point 
man,  who  is  taught  that  a  drum-head  court  martial — 
and  what  else  in  the  experience  of  this  finished  officer 
should  so  fit  him  for  sitting  in  judgment  upon  pic- 
tures ? — should  be  presided  at  with  grave  and  softened 
demeanour. 

If  I  mistook  the  General's  manner,  it  is  another 
illusion  the  less. 

And  I  have,  Sir, 
the  honour  to  be, 

Your  obedient  servant, 


AMSTERDAM,  Oct.  6. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  277 


The  Ar t- Critic  s  Friend 


WHISTLER  has  many  things  to  answer  for, 
and  not  the  least  of  them  is  the  education  of  the  British 
Art-Critic.  That,  at  any  rate,  is  the  impression  left  by 
a  little  book  made  up — apparently  against  the  writer's 

will — of  certain  of  the  master's  letters  and  mots 

It  is  useful  and  pleasant  reading  ;  for  not  only  does 
it  prove  the  painter  to  have  a  certain  literary  talent — 
of  aptness,  unexpectedness,  above  all  impertinence — 
but  also  it  proves  him  never  to  have  feared  the  face 

of  art-critical  man To   him   the  art-critic  is 

nothing  if  not  a  person  to  be  educated,  with  or  against 
the  grain  ;  and  when  he  encounters  him  in  the  ways  of 
error,  he  leaps  upon  him  joyously,  scalps  him  in  print 
before  the  eyes  of  men,  kicks  him  gaily  back  into  the 
paths  of  truth  and  soberness,  and  resumes  his  avocation 
with  that  peculiar  zest  an  act  of  virtue  does  un- 
doubtedly impart.  Indeed,  Mr.  Whistler,  so  far  from 
being  the  critic's  enemy,  is  on  the  contrary  the  best 


278  THE  GENTLE  ART 

friend  that  tradesman  has  ever  had.    For  his  function 

is  to  make  him  ridiculous 

....  Yes,  Mr.  Whistler  is  often  "rowdy"  and 
unpleasant ;  in  his  last  combat  with  Mr.  Oscar  Wilde 
— ("  Oscar,  you  have  been  down  the  area  again  ") — he 
comes  off  a  palpable  second  ;  his  treatment  of  'Arry 
dead  and  "  neglected  by  the  parish  "  goes  far  to  prove 
that  his  sense  of  smell  is  not  so  delicate  nor  so  perfectly 
trained  as  his  sense  of  sight 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  279 


A   Question 


TO  THE  EDITOR: 

, — It  is,  I  suppose,  to  your  pleasant  satisfaction 
in  "  The  Critic's  Friend"  that  I  owe  the  early  copy  of 
the  Scots  Observer,  pointed  with  proud  mark,  in  the 
blue  pencil  of  office,  whereby  the  impatient  author  April  19,1890. 
hastened  to  indicate  the  pithy  personal  paragraphs, 
that  no  time  should  be  wasted  upon  other  matter  with 
which  the  periodical  is  ballasted. 

Exhilarated  by  the  belief  that  I  had  been  remem- 
bered— for  vanity's  sake  let  me  fancy  that  you  have 
bestowed  upon  me  your  own  thought  and  hand — I 
plunged  forthwith  into  the  underlined  article,  and 
read  with  much  amusement  your  excellent  apprecia- 
tion. 

Having  forgotten  none  of  your  professional  manner 
as  art  arbiter,  may  I  say  that  I  can  picture  to  myself 
easily  the  sad  earnestness  with  which  you  now  point 


280  THE  GENTLE  ART  OF  MAKING  ENEMIES 
the  thick  thumb  of  your  editorial  refinement  in 
deprecation  of  my  choicer  "  rowdyism "  ?  And 
knowing  your  analytical  conscientiousness,  I  can 
even  understand  the  humble  comfort  you  take  in 
Oscar's  meek  superiority;  but,  for  the  life  of  me, 
I  cannot  follow  your  literary  intention  when  you 
say  that  my  care  of  "  *  'Arry,'  dead  and  neglected 
by  the  parish,"  goes  far  to  prove  that  my  "  sense  of 
smell  is  not  so  delicate  nor  so  perfectly  trained  as  " 
my  "  sense  of  sight." 

Do  you  mean  that  my  discovery  of  the  body  is  the 
result  of  a  cold  in  the  head  ?  and  that,  with  a  finer 
scent,  I  should  have  missed  it  altogether  ?  or  were 
you  only  unconsciously  remembering  and  dreamily 
dipping  your  pen  into  the  ink  of  my  former  description 
of  "'Arry's"  chronic  catarrh?  In  any  case,  I  am 
charmed  with  what  I  have  just  read,  and  only  regret 
that  the  ridiculous  "  Romeike  "  has  not  hitherto  sent 
me  your  agreeable  literature. — Also  I  am,  dear  Sir, 
your  obedient  servant, 


[The  End  of  the  Piece 


282  THE  GENTLE  ART 


The  End  of  the  Piece 


,  —  I  beg  to  draw  your  attention  to  the  contents 
of  your  letter  to  the  Scots  Observer,  dated  April  i2th, 
in  which  you  state  that  you  "  regret  the  ridiculous 
Romeike  has  not  hitherto  sent  me  your  agreeable 
literature." 

This  statement,  had  it  been  true,  was  spiteful  and 
injurious,  but  being  untrue  (entirely)  it  becomes 
malicious,  and  I  must  ask  you  at  once  to  apologise. 

And  at  the  same  time  to  draw  your  attention  to  the 
fact  that  we  have  supplied  you  with  807  cuttings. 

We  have  written  to  the  Scots  Observer  for  an  ample 
apology,  or  the  matter  will  be  placed  in  our  solicitor's 
hands,  and  we  demand  the  same  of  you  . 

Yours  obediently, 

ROMEIKE  &  CURTICE. 
J.  McN.  WHISTLER,  Esq. 
April  25,  1890. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  283 


Exit  the  Prompter 

QIR, — If  it  be  not  actionable,  permit  me  to  say  that 
you  really  are  delightful !  ! 

Naivete,  like  yours,  I  have  never  met — even  in  my 
long  experience  with  all  those,  some  of  whose  "  agree- 
able literature"  maybe,  I  suppose,  in  the  807  cuttings 
you  charge  me  for. 

Who,  in  Heaven's  name,  ever  dreamed  of  you  as  an 
actual  person  ? — or  one  whom  one  would  mean  to 
insult  ? 

My  good  Sir,  no  such  intention — believe  me — did 
I,  in  my  wildest  of  moments,  ever  entertain. 

Your  scalp — if  you  have  such  a  thing — is  safe 
enough  ! — and  I  even  think — however  great  my  will- 
ingness to  assist  you — could  not  possibly  appear  in 
the  forthcoming  Edition. 


To  Mr.  ROMEIKE. 
April  25. 


THE  GENTLE  ART  OF  MAKING  ENEMIES    285 


L?  Envoi 


the  Chairman,  in  a  singularly  brilliant  and 
felicitous  speech  led  up  to  the  toast  of  the  evening, 
Mr.  Whistler  rose  to  his  feet. 

"You  must  feel  that,  for  me,"  said  Mr.  Whistler, 

'    the  toast  of  the 

"  it  is  no  easy  task  to  reply  under  conditions  of  which  SSmJmS^ 

-r  i  T,    i       IT-,          t-r-r  11  dinner  given  to  Mr 

I  have  so  little  habit.     We  are  all  even  too  conscious  whistler.  London, 

May  i,  1889. 

that  mine  has  hitherto,  I  fear,  been  the  gentle  answer 
Sunday  Times,       that  sometimes  turneth  not  away  wrath." 

May  s,  xSSg.  ^  ^    * 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  he,  "  this  is  an  age  of  rapid 
results,  when  remedies  insist  upon  their  diseases,  that 
science  shall  triumph  and  no  time  be  lost ;  and  so 
have  we  also  rewards  that  bring  with  them  their  own 
virtue.  It  would  ill  become  me  to  question  my  fitness 
for  the  position  it  has  pleased  this  distinguished  com- 
pany to  thrust  upon  me." 

"  It  has  before  now  been  borne  in  upon  me,  that 
in  surroundings  of  antagonism,  I  may  have  wrapped 
myself,  for  protection,  in  a  species  of  misunderstand- 


286    THE  GENTLE  ART  OF  MAKING  ENEMIES 

ing — as  that  other  traveller  drew  closer  about  him 
the  folds  of  his  cloak  the  more  bitterly  the  winds  and 
the  storm  assailed  him  on  his  way.  But,  as  with 
him,  when  the  sun  shone  upon  him  in  his  path,  his 
cloak  fell  from  his  shoulders,  so  I,  in  the  warm  glow 
of  your  friendship,  throw  from  me  all  former  dis- 
guise, and,  making  no  further  attempt  to  hide  my 
true  feeling,  disclose  to  you  my  deep  emotion  at  such 
unwonted  testimony  of  affection  and  faith." 


[  Auto-Biogr  aphical 


288  THE  GENTLE  ART 


Auto- Biographical 

TO  THE  EDITOR: 

CjIR> — May  I  request  that  you  allow  me  to  make  pallMa 
known,  through  your  influential  paper,  the  fact  that  July  28>  r 
the  canvas,  now  shown  as  a  completed  work  of  mine, 
at  Messrs.  Dowdeswell's,  representing  three    draped 
figures  in  a  conservatory,  is  a  painting  long  ago  barely 
begun,  and  thrown  aside  for  destruction  ? 

Also  I  am  in  no  way  responsible  for  the  taste  of  the 
frame  with  its  astonishments  of  plush  !  and  varied 
gildings. 

I  think  it  not  only  just  to  myself  to  make  this 
statement,  but  right  that  the  public  should  be  warned 
against  the  possible  purchase  of  a  picture  in  no  way 
representative,  and,  in  its  actual  condition,  absolutely 
worthless. — I  am,  Sir,  your  obeJient  servant, 


Chelsea,  July  27,  1891. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  289 


Mr.    Whistler  "had  on  his  own   Toast" 


TO  THE  EDITOR  •. 

, — I  have  read  with  interest  Mr.  Whistler's  letter 
in  your  issue  of  July  28.  I  happened  to  be  at  Messrs. 
Dowdeswell's  galleries  the  other  day  and  saw  the  paUMau  Gazette, 

J  Aug.  i,  1891. 

picture  he  refers  to.  It  was  not  on  public  exhibition, 
but  was  in  one  of  their  private  rooms,  and  was  brought 
out  for  my  inspection  ct,  propos  of  a  conversation  we 
were  having.  Now,  so  far  from  Messrs.  Dowdeswell 
showing  it  as  a  "completed  work,"  they  distinctly 
spoke  of  it  as  unfinished ;  nor  can  I  imagine  any 
one  acquainted  with  Mr.  Whistler's  works  speaking 
of  any  of  them  as  "completed!"  In  "L'Envoi" 
of  the  catalogue  of  his  exhibition  held  at  Messrs. 
Dowdeswell's  a  short  time  ago  I  find  the  following 
paragraph  from  his  pen  : — "  The  work  of  the  master 
reeks  not  of  the  sweat  of  the  brow — suggests  no 
effort — and  is  finished  from  its  beginning."  The  only 
inference  possible  is  either  that  Mr.  Whistler  is  not  a 

T 


290  THE  GENTLE  ART 

master,  or  that  the  work  is  finished !  He  has,  how- 
ever, spent  what  time  he  could  spare  from  his  literary 
labours  in  endeavouring  to  induce  the  world  to  believe 
that  the  slightest  scratch  from  his  pen  is  worthy  to 
rank  with  "  Las  Lanzas,"  and  I  am  therefore  surprised 
to  learn  that  he  has  altered  his  opinion.  Still,  I  quite 
agree  with  him  when  he  tells  us  that  some  of  his  work 
is  "  absolutely  worthless !  " — I  am,  sir,  more  in  sorrow 
than  in  anger,  your  obedient  servant, 

W.  C. 

July  31,  1891. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  291 


What  "Mr.    Whistler  had  on  his  own 
Toast " 

TO  THE  EDITOR: 

gIR, — My  letter  should  have  met  with  no  reply  at 

all.    It  was  a  statement— authoritative  and  unanswer-  PM  MM  Gazette, 

Aug.  4,  ibgi. 

able,  if  there  ever  were  one. 

Because  of  the  attention  drawn  to  it,  in  the  press, 
I  felt  called  upon  to  advise  the  Public  that  one  of 
my  own  works  is  condemned  by  myself.  Final  this, 
one  would  fancy ! 

That  the  accidental  owners  of  the  Gallery  should 
introduce  themselves  to  the  situation,  is  of  a  most 
marked  irrelevancy.  They  come  in  comme  un  cheveu 
sur  la  soupe,  to  be  removed  at  once. 

The  dealer's  business  is  to  buy  and  sell.  In  the 
course  of  such  traffic,  these  same  busy  picture  bodies, 
without  consulting  me,  put  upon  the  market  a  paint- 
ing that  I,  the  author,  intended  to  efface — and,  thanks 
to  your  courtesy,  I  have  been  enabled  to  say  so 
effectually  in  your  journal. 


292     THE  GENTLE  ART  OF  MAKING  ENEMIES 

All  along  have  I  carefully  destroyed  plates,  torn  up 
proofs,  and  burned  canvases,  that  the  truth  of  the 
quoted  word  shall  prevail,  and  that  the  future  collector 
shall  be  spared  the  mortification  of  cataloguing  his 
pet  mistakes. 

To  destroy,  is  to  remain. 

What  is  commercial  irritation  beside  a  clean 
canvas  ? 

What  is  a  gentlemanly  firm  in  Bond  Street  beside 
Eternity  ? — I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 


Che /sea,  August  i,  1891. 


NOCTURNES,  MARINES, 

AND 

CHE  VALET  PIECES 

A  CATALOGUE 


SMALL  COLLECTION 

KINDLY  LENT 

THEIR  OWNERS 


THE  VOICE  OF  A  PEOPLE" 


I  do  not  know  when  so  much  amusement  has 
been  afforded  to  the  British  public  as  by 
Mr.  Whistler's  pictures." 

Speech  of  the  Attorney-General  of  England. 
Westminster,  Nov.  16,  1878. 


i.— NOCTURNE. 

GREY  AND  SILVER— CHELSEA  EMBANKMENT— WINTER. 
Lent  ~by  F.  G.  Orckar,  Esq. 

"  With  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  one  of  Mr.  Whist- 
ler's meaningless  canvases,  there  is  nothing  that  is 
actually  provocative  of  undue  mirth  or  ridicule." 

City  Press. 

"  In  some  of  the  Nocturnes  the  absence,  not  only  of 
definition,  but  of  gradation,  would  point  to  the  con 
elusion  that  they  are  but  engaging  sketches.  In  them 


2gS  THE  GENTLE  ART 

we  look  in  vain  for  all  the  delicate  differences  of  light 

and  hue  which  the  scenes  depicted  present." 

F.  Wedmore,  "Four  Masters  of  Etching." 

2.-  SYMPHONY  IN  WHITE,  No.  III. 

Lent  by  Louis  Huth,  Esq. 

"  It  is  not  precisely  a  symphony  in  white — one  lady 
has  a  yellowish  dress  and  brown  hair  and  a  bit  of  blue 
ribbon,  the  other  has  a  red  fan,  and  there  are  flowers 
and  green  leaves.  There  is  a  girl  in  white  on  a  white 
sofa,  but  even  this  girl  has  reddish  hair ;  and  of  course 
there  is  the  flesh  colour  of  the  complexions." 

P.  G.  ffamerton,  " Saturday  Review" 

"Mr.  Whistler  appears  as  eccentrically  as  ever 

Art  is  not  served  by  freaks  of  resentment We 

hold  him  deeply  to  blame  that  these  figures  are  badly 
drawn. 

".  .  .  .  *  Taste/  which  is  mind  working  in  Art, 
would,  even  if  it  could  at  all  conceive  them,  utterly 
reject  the  vulgarities  of  Mr.  Whistler  with  regard  to 
form,  and  never  be  content  with  what  suffices  him  in 
composition." — Atkenceum. 

"  Painting,  or  art  generally,  as  such,  with  all  its  tech- 
nicalities, difficulties,  and  particular  ends,  is  nothing 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  299 

but  a  noble  and  expressive  language,  invaluable  as  the 
vehicle  of  thought,  but  by  itself  nothing." 

John  fiuskin,  Esq.,  Art  Professor, 

" Modern  Painters" 


3.— CHELSEA  IN  ICE. 

Lent  by  Madame  Venturi. 

11  We  are  not  sure  but  that  it  would  be  something 
like  insult  to  our  readers  to  say  more  about  these 
'  things.'  They  must  surely  be  meant  in  jest ;  but 
whether  the  public  have  chiefly  to  thank  Mr.  Whistler 
or  the  Managers  of  the  Grosvenor  Gallery  for  playing 
off  on  them  this  sorry  joke  we  do  not  know,  nor 
greatly  care.  Meliora  canamus  !  " — Knowledge. 

4.— NOCTURNE. 
BLUE  AND  GOLD — OLD  BATTERSEA  BRIDGE. 

Lent  by  Robert  H.  C.  Harrison,  Esq. 

"  His  Nocturne  in  Blue  and  Gold,  No.  3,  might  have 
been  called,  with  a  similar  confusion  of  terms :  A 
Farce  in  Moonshine,  with  half-a-dozen  dots." — Life. 

"  The  picture  representing  a  night  scene  on  Batter- 
sea  Bridge  has  no  composition  and  detail.  A  day,  or 
a  day  and  a  half,  seems  a  reasonable  time  within 


300  THE  GENTLE  ART 

which  to  paint  it.     It  shows  no  finish — it  is  simply 

a  sketch." 

Mr.  Jones,  R.A. — Evidence  in  Court, 

Nov.  16,  1878. 


5.— THE  LANGE  LEIZEN— OF  THE  SIX  MARKS. 
PURPLE  AND  ROSE. 

Lent  by  J.  Leathart. 

11  Mr.  Whistler  paints  subjects  sadly  below  the 
merit  of  his  pencil." — London  Review. 

"A  worse  specimen  of  humanity  than  could  be 
found  on  the  oldest  piece  of  china  in  existence." 

Reader. 

"The  hideous  forms  we  find  in  his  Chinese  vase 
painteress  ....  an  ostentatious  slovenliness  of  exe- 
cution ....  objects  as  much  out  of  perspective  as 
the  great  blue  vase  in  the  foreground,  &c...  <kc... 

"  It  is  Mr.  Whistler's  way  to  choose  people  and 
things  for  painting  which  other  painters  would  turn 
from,  and  to  combine  these  oddly  chosen  materials  as 
no  other  painter  would  choose  to  combine  them.  He 
should  learn  that  eccentricity  is  not  originality,  but 
the  caricature  of  it." — Times. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  301 

6.— NOCTURNE. 
TRAFALGAR  SQUARE— SNOW. 

Lent  by  Albert  Moore,  Esq. 

"  The  word  '  impressionist '  has  come  to  have  a  bad 
meaning  in  art.  Visions  of  Whistler  come  before 
you  when  you  hear  it.  Such  visions  are  not  of  the 
best  possible  augury,  for  who  loves  a  nightmare  ?  " 

Oracle. 

"Like  the  landscape  art  of  Japan,  they  are  har- 
monious decorations,  and  a  dozen  or  so  of  such 
engaging  sketches  placed  in  the  upper  panels  of  a 
lofty  apartment  would  afford  a  justifiable  and  welcome 
alternative  even  to  noble  tapestries  or  Morris  wall- 
papers."— F.  Wedmore,  "Four  Masters  of  Etching" 

7.— NOCTURNE— BLACK  AND  GOLD. 

THE  FIRE  WHEEL. 

"  Mr.  Whistler  has  *  a  sweet  little  isle  of  his  own ' 
in  the  shape  of  an  ample  allowance  of  wall  space  all 
to  himself  for  the  display  of  his  six  most  noticeable 
works :  *  Nocturnes '  in  black  and  gold,  in  blue  and 
silver,  'Arrangements'  in  black  and  brown,  and 
'  Harmonies '  in  amber  and  black. 

"These  weird  productions — enigmas  sometimes  so 


302  THE  GENTLE  ART 

occult  that  (Edipus  might  be  puzzled  to  solve  them- 

need  much  subtle  explanation." — Daily  Telegraph. 


8.— ARRANGEMENT  IN  BLACK  AND  BROWN. 

THE  FUR  JACKET. 

"  Mr.  Whistler  has  whole-length  portraits,  or  rather 
the  shadows  of  people,  shapes  suggestive  of  good 
examples  of  portraiture  when  completed.  They  are 
exhibited  to  illustrate  a  theory  peculiar  to  the  artist. 
One  is  entitled  An  Arrangement  in  i  Black  and 
Brown.'" — Daily  Telegraph. 

"  Mr.  Whistler  is  anything  but  a  robust  and  bal- 
anced genius." — Times. 

"  Whistler,  with  three  portraits  which  he  is  pleased 
to  call  *  Arrangements,'  and  which  look  like  ghosts." 

Truth. 

"  Some  figure  pieces,  which  this  artist  exhibits  as 
'harmonies'  in  this,  that,  or  the  other,  being,  as 
they  are,  mere  rubs-in  of  colour,  have  no  claim  to  be 
regarded  as  pictures." — Scotsman. 

"We  are  threatened  with  a  Whistler  exhibition. 
The  periodical  inflictions  with  which  this  gentleman 
tries  the  patience  of  a  long-suffering  public  generally 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  303 

take  some  fantastic  form  to  attract  attention.  It  is 
an  evidence  of  the  painter's  worldly  acuteness  that 
this  should  be  so,  for  public  attention  may  be  drawn 
by  such  outbursts  of  eccentricity  to  such  work  as 
would  never  impress  sensible  people  on  its  bare 
merit." — Oracle. 

9.— NOCTURNE. 
BLUE  AND  SILVER. 

Lent  by  Mrs.  Leyland. 

"  It  seems  to  us  a  pity  that  an  artist  of  Mr. 
Whistler's  known  ability  should  exhibit  such  an  extra- 
ordinary collection  of  pictile  nightmares." — Society. 

"  MR.  Bo  WEN  :  '  Do  you  consider  detail  and  composi- 
tion essential  to  a  work  of  art  ? ' 

"  MR.  JONES  :  '  Most  certainly  I  do.' 

"  MR.  BOWEN  :  '  Then  what  detail  and  composition 
do  you  find  in  this  "  Nocturne  "  ?  ' 

"  MR.  JONES  :  *  Absolutely  none.' 

"  MR.  BOWEN  :  '  Do  you  think  two  hundred  guineas 
a  large  price  for  that  picture  ? ' 

"  MR.  JONES  :  '  Yes,  when  you  think  of  the  amount 
of  earnest  work  done  for  a  smaller  sum.' " 

Evidence  of  Mr.  Jones,  R.A., 

Westminster,  Nov.  1 6,  1878. 


304  THE  GENTLE  ART 

io.— NOCTURNE. 

IN  BLACK  AND  GOLD— THE  FALLING  ROCKET. 
"A  dark  bluish  surface,  with  dots  on  it,  and  the 
faintest  adumbrations  of  shape  under  the  darkness,  is 
gravely  called  a  Nocturne  in  Black  and  Gold." 

Knowledge. 

"  His  Nocturne,  black  and  gold,  '  The  Falling 
Rocket,'  shows  such  wilful  and  headlong  perversity 
that  one  is  almost  disposed  to  despair  of  an  artist 
who,  in  a  sane  moment  [sic],  could  send  such  a  daub 
to  any  exhibition." — Telegraph. 

11  For  Mr.  Whistler's  own  sake,  no  less  than  for  the 
protection  of  the  purchaser,  Sir  Coutts  Lindsay  ought 
not  to  have  admitted  works  into  the  gallery  in  which 
the  ill-educated  conceit  of  the  artist  so  nearly  ap- 
proached the  aspect  of  wilful  imposture.  I  have  seen, 
and  heard,  much  of  cockney  impudence  before  now,  but 
never  expected  to  hear  a  coxcomb  ask  two  hundred 
guineas  for  flinging  a  pot  of  paint  in  the  public's  face." 
Professor  John  JKztskin, 

July  2,  1877. 

"  The  *  Nocturne  in  black  and  gold '  is  not  a  serious 
work  to  me." 

Mr.  Frith,  R.A. — Evidence  at  Westminster, 

Nov.  16,  1878. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  305 

"  The  '  Nocturne  in  black  and  gold,'  I  do  not  think 
a  serious  work  of  art." 

The  Art  Critic  of  the  "  Times," 

Evidence  at  Westminster,  Nov.  16,  1878. 

"  The  Nocturne  in  black  and  gold  has  not  the  merit 
of  the  other  two  pictures,  and  it  would  be  impossible 
to  call  it  a  serious  work  of  art.  Mr.  Whistler's 
picture  is  only  one  of  the  thousand  failures  to  paint 
night.  The  picture  is  not  worth  two  hundred 
guineas." 

Evidence  of  Mr.  Jones,  R.A., 

Westminster,  Nov.  16,  1878. 


ii.—NOCTURNE— OPAL  AND  SILVER. 

Lent  by  H.  Theobald,  Esq. 

"  With  what  feelings  must  we  regard  the  mad  new 
style,  the  Nocturnes  in  *  Blue  and  Silver,'  the  Har- 
monies in  Flesh-colour  and  Pink,  the  Notes  in  Blue 
and  Opal." — Knowledge. 

"  The  blue  and  black  smudges  which  purport  to 
depict  the  '  Thames  at  Night.' " — Life. 


306  THE  GENTLE  ART 

12.— HARMONY  IN  GREEN  AND  ROSE. 
THE  Music  ROOM. 

Lent  by  Madame  Rewritten. 

"  He  paints  in  soot-colours  and  mud-colours,  but, 
far  from  enjoying  primary  hues,  has  little  or  no  per- 
ception of  the  loveliness  of  secondary  or  tertiary 
colour." — Merrie  England. 

I3._CREPUSCULE  IN  FLESH  COLOUR  AND  GREEN. 

VALPARAISO. 
Lent  by  Graham  Robertson,  Esq. 

11  Now,  the  best  achievement  of  The  Impressionist 
School,  to  which  Mr.  "Whistler  belongs  [sic],  is  the 
rendering  of  air — not  air  made  palpable  and  compara- 
tively easy  to  paint,  by  fog — but  atmosphere  which  is 
the  medium  of  light." — Merrie  England. 

14.— CAPRICE  IN  PURPLE  AND  GOLD. 
THE  GOLD  SCREEN". 
Lent  by  Cyril  Flower,  Esq.,  M.P. 

"  I  take  it  to  be  admitted  by  those  who  do  not  con- 
clude that  art  is  necessarily  great  which  has  the  mis- 
fortune to  be  unacceptable,  that  it  is  not  by  his  paint- 
ings so  much  as  by  his  etchings  that  Mr.  Whistler's 
name  may  aspire  to  live." — F.  Wedmore. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  307 

15.— SYMPHONY  IN  GREY  AND  GREEN. 
THE  OCEAN. 

Lent  by  Mrs.  Peter  Taylor. 

"In  Mr.  Whistler's  picture,  'Symphony  in  Grey 
and  Green  :  The  Ocean/  the  composition  is  ugly,  the 
sky  opaque,  the  suggestion  of  sea  leaden  and  without 
light  or  motion." — Times. 

"Mr.  Whistler  continues  these  experiments  in  colour 
which  are  now  known  as  '  Symphonies.'  It  may  be 
questioned  whether  these  performances  are  to  be 
highly  valued,  except  as  feats  accomplished  under 
needless  and  self-imposed  restrictions — much  as  writ- 
ing achieved  by  the  feet  of  a  penman  who  has  not 
been  deprived  of  the  use  of  his  hands." — Graphic. 

' '  We  can  paint  a  cat  or  a  fiddle,  so  that  they  look  as  if  we  could 
take  them  up  ;  but  we  cannot  imitate  the  Ocean  or  the  Alps.  We 
can  imitate  fruit,  but  not  a  tree ;  flowers,  but  not  a  pasture ;  cut- 
glass,  but  not  the  rainbow." — John  Ruskin^  Esq.,  Teacher  of  Art. 


16.—  NOCTURNE. 
GREY  AND  GOLD — CHELSEA  SNOW. 

Lent  by  Alfred  Chapman,  Esq. 

"  Mr.  Whistler  sends  two  of  his  studies  of  moon- 
light, in  which  form  is  eschewed   for  harmonies  of 


308  THE  GENTLE  ART 

1  Grey  and  Gold  '  and  *  Blue  and  Silver ; '  and  which, 
for  the  crowd  of  exhibition  visitors,  resolve  themselves 
into  riddles  or  mystifications.  ...  In  a  word,  paint- 
ing to  Mr.  Whistler  is  the  exact  correlative  of  music, 
as  vague,  as  purely  emotional,  as  released  from  all 
functions  of  representation. 

1 '  He  is  really  building  up  art  out  of  his  own  imper- 
fections [sicf]  instead  of  setting  himself  to  supply 
them/' — Times. 

17.— NOCTURNE. 
BLUE  AND  SILVER— BATTERSEA  REACH. 

Lent  by  W.  G.  Rawlinson,  Esq. 

"  J.  M.  Whistler  is  here  again  with  his  nocturnes." 

Scotsman. 

18.— NOCTURNE. 
BLUE  AND  SILVER— CHELSEA. 

Lent  by  W.  C.  Alexander,  Esq. 

<;  ]\Ir.  Whistler  confines  himself  to  two  small  can- 
vases of  the  nocturne  kind.  One  is  covered  with 
smudgy  blue  and  the  other  with  dirty  black." 

Saturday  Review. 

"  A  reputation,  for  a  time,  imperilled  by  original 
absurdity." — F.  Wedmore,  "  Academy." 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  309 

"  I  think  Mr.  Wedmore  takes  the  Nocturnes  and 
Arrangements  too  seriously.  They  are  merely  first 
beginnings  of  pictures,  differing  from  ordinary  first 
beginnings  in  having  no  composition.  The  great 
originality  was  in  venturing  to  exhibit  them." 

P.  G.  flamerton,  "  Academy." 


19.— NOCTURNE. 
GREY  AND  GOLD— WESTMINSTER  BRIDGE. 

Lent  by  the  Hon.  Mrs.  Percy  Wyndham. 

"Two  of  Mr.  Whistler's  'colour  symphonies '- 
*  Nocturne  in  Blue  and  Gold,'  and  a  *  Nocturne  in 
Black  and  Gold.'  If  he  did  not  exhibit  these  as 
pictures  under  peculiar  and,  what  seems  to  most 
people,  pretentious  titles,  they  would  be  entitled  to 
their  due  meed  of  admiration  [sic  /].  But  they  only 
come  one  step  nearer  pictures  than  delicately  gradu- 
ated tints  on  a  wall-paper  do. 

"He  must  not  attempt,  with  that  happy,  half- 
humorous  audacity  which  all  his  dealings  with  his 
own  works  suggests,  to  palm  off  his  deficiencies  upon 
us  as  manifestations  of  power." — Daily  Telegraph. 


310  THE  GENTLE  ART 

20.— NOCTURNE. 
BLUE  AND  GOLD— SOUTHAMPTON  WATER. 

Lent  by  Alfred  Chapman,  Esq. 

11  There  is  always  danger  that  efforts  of  this  class 
may  degenerate  into  the  merely  tricky  and  meretri- 
cious ;  and  already  a  suspicion  arises  that  the  artist's 
eccentricity  is  somewhat  too  premeditated  and  self- 
conscious.*' — Graphic. 

21.— BLUE  AND  SILVER. 
BLUE  WAVE,  BIARRITZ. 

Lent  by  Gerald  Potter,  Esq. 

"  Mr.  Whistler  is  possessed  of  much  audacity  and 
eccentricity,  and  these  are  useful  qualities  in  an  artist 
who  desires  to  be  talked  about.  When  he  conies  out 
into  the  open,  and  deals  with  daylight,  we  find  these 
studies  to  be  only  the  first  washes  of  pictures.  He 
leaves  off  where  other  artists  begin.  He  shirks  all 
the  difficulties  ahead,  and  asks  the  spectator  to  com- 
plete the  picture  himself." — Daily  Telegraph. 

"  The  absence,  seemingly,  of  any  power,  such  as 
the  great  marine  painters  had,  of  drawing  forms  of 
water,  whether  in  a  broad  and  wind-swept  tidal  river 
or  on  the  high  seas  .  .  .  ." 

F.  Wedmore, 

"  Nineteenth  Century." 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  311 

22.— ARRANGEMENT  IN  BLACK  AND  BROWN. 
Miss  ROSA  CORDER. 
Lent  by  Graham  Robertson,  Esq. 

"  It  is  bad  enough,  in  all  conscience,  to  be  caricatured 
by  the  gifted  pencil  and  brushes  of  the  admirable 
Whistler ;  and  it  is  surely  adding  insult  to  injury  to 
describe  the  victims  and  sufferers  as  l  Arrangements.' 
With  regard  to  Mr.  Whistler's  Symphonies,  Har- 
monies, and  so  on,  we  will  relate  a  parable.  Here  it 
is  : — A  lively  young  donkey  sang  a  sweet  love  song  to 
the  dawn,  and  so  disturbed  all  the  neighbourhood,  that 
the  neighbours  went  to  the  donkey  and  begged  him 
to  desist.  He  continued  his  braying  for  some  time, 
and  then  ended  with  what  appeared,  to  his  own  ears, 
a  nourish  of  surpassing  brilliancy. 

"  'Will  you  be  good  enough  to  give  over  that  hideous 
noise  ? '  "  said  the  neighbours. 

"  *  Good  Olympus ! '  said  the  donkey,  '  did  you  say 
hideous  noise  ?  Why,  that  is  a  "  Symphony,"  which 
means  a  concord  of  sweet  sounds,  as  you  may  see  by 
referring  to  any  dictionary.' 

"  '  But,'  said  the  neighbours,  '  we  do  not  think  that 
"  Symphony"  is  the  word  to  describe  your  performance. 
"  Cacophony"  would  be  more  correct,  and  that  means 
"  a  bad  set  of  sounds."  ' 


312  THE  GENTLE  ART 

"  *  How  absurdly  you  talk ! '  said  the  donkey.  '  I 
will  refer  it  to  my  fellow-asses,  and  let  them  decide.' 

"  The  donkeys  decided  that  the  young  donkey's  song 
was  a  most  symphonious  and  harmonious,  sweet  song ; 
so  he  continues  to  bray  as  melodiously  as  ever.  There 
is,  we  believe,  a  moral  to  this  parable,  if  we  only  knew 
what  it  was.  Perhaps  the  piercing  eye  of  the 
*  Nocturnal  Whistler  '  may  find  it  out." — Echo. 

"  Miss  Rosa  Corder,  and  Mr.  H.  Irving  as  Philip, 
are  two  large  blotches  of  dark  canvas.  When  I  have 
time  I  am  going  again  to  find  out  which  is  Rose  and 
which  is  Irving. 

"  The  rest  of  the  collection  is  marred  by  the  im- 
patience which  has  prevented  his  achieving  any  finished 
work  of  Art."—  Weekly  Press. 


23.— "HARMONY  IN  GREY  AND  GREEN." 
PORTRAIT  OF  Miss  ALEXANDER. 

Lent  by  W.  Alexander,  Esq. 

"  A  sketch  of  Miss  Alexander,  in  which  much  must 
be  imagined." — Standard. 

"  There  is  character  in  it,  but  it  is  unpleasant  char- 
acter. Of  anything  like  real  flesh  tones  the  painting 
is  quite  innocent.'' — Builder. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  313 

"  But  what  can  we  say  of  Mr.  Whistler  £  His  por- 
trait of  Miss  Alexander  is  certainly  one  of  the  strangest 
and  most  eccentric  specimens  of  Portraiture  we  ever 
saw.  If  we  were  unacquainted  with  his  singular 
theories  of  Art,  we  should  imagine  he  had  merely 
made  a  sketch  and  left  it,  before  the  colours  were  dry, 

in  a  room  where  chimney-sweeps  were  at  work 

Nobody  who  sets  any  value  on  the  roses  and  lilies 
that  adorn  the  cheeks  of  our  blooming  girls  can  accept 
such  murky  tints  as  these  as  representative  of  a  young 
English  lady." — Era. 

(l  It  is  simply  a  disagreeable  presentment  of  a  dis- 
agreeable young  lady." — Liverpool  Weekly  Mercury. 

u  Mr.  Whistler  again  appears  on  the  walls  with  a 
characteristic  full-length  life-size  portrait  of  a  girl, 
Miss  Alexander. 

"  This  work  is  devoid  of  colour,  being  arranged  in 
Black  and  White  and  intermediate  tones  of  grey. 
The  general  effect  is  dismal  in  the  extreme,  and  one 
cannot  but  wonder  how  an  artist  of  undoubted  talent 
should  wilfully  persist  in  such  perversities  of  judg- 
ment."— Western  Daily  Mercury. 

"  Miss  Alexander,  almost  in  Black  and  White,  and 
about  the  most  unattractive  piece  of  work  in  the 
Galleries." — Edinburgh  Daily  Review. 


314  THE  GENTLE  ART 

"  A  *  gruesomeness  in  Grey.' 

"  Well,  bless  thee,  J.  Whistler  !  We  do  not  hanker 
after  your  brush  system.  Farewell !  " — Punch. 

"  '  AN  ARRANGEMENT  IN  SILVER  AND  BILE.' 
"  The  artist  has  represented  this  bilious  young  lady 
as  looking  haughty  in  a  dirty  white  dress,  a  grey 
polonaise,  bound  by  a  grey  green  sash,  a  grey  hat, 
with  the  most  unhealthy  green  feather;  furthermore, 
she  wears  black  shoes  with  green  bows,  and  stands 
defiantly  on  a  grey  floor  cloth,  opposite  a  grey  wall 
with  a  black  dado.  Two  dyspeptic  butterflies  hover 
wearily  above  her  head  in  search  of  a  bit  of  colour 
....  evidently  losing  heart  at  the  grey  expanse 

around A  picture  should  charm,  not  depress, 

it  should  tend  to  elevate  our  thoughts  !  " — Society. 

11  This  picture  represents  a  child  of  ten,  and  is  called 
a  harmony  in  grey  and  green,  but  the  prevailing  tone 
is  a  rather  unpleasant  yellow,  and  the  complexion  of 
the  face  is  wholly  unchildlike." — Echo. 

"  A  large  etching  in  oil,  a  '  Rhapsody  in  Raw  Child 
and  Cobwebs,'  by  Mr.  Whistler." — Artist. 

"  Mr.  Whistler  is  as  spectral  as  ever  in  an  unattrac- 
tive portrait  of  an  awkward  little  girl,  happily  not 
rendered  additionally  ridiculous  by  a  musical  title." 

Bedford  Observer. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  315 

"  Flattery  is  objectionable  in  art  as  elsewhere,  but 
some  portrait  painters  seem  to  find  it  impossible  to 
tell  the  truth  without  being  rude." — Academy. 

"  Mr.  Whistler  has  a  portrait  of  a  young  lady  that 
excites  absolute  astonishment. 

"  What  charm  can  there  be  in  such  colours  as  these  ? 
What  effect  do  they  produce  which  would  not  have 
been  better  by  warmer  and  less  repulsive  tints  ?  " 

Leeds  Mercury. 

"  Mr.  Whistler's  single  contribution  is  a  child's 
portrait,  posed  and  painted  in  a  rather  distant,  if 
obsequious,  imitation  of  the  manner  of  Velasquez,  the 
great  difference  being  that  whereas  the  Spaniard's 
work  is  most  remarkable  for  supreme  distinction,  the 
present  portrait  is  uncompromisingly  vulgar." 

Magazine  of  Art. 


24.— NOCTURNE. 
BLUE  AND  SILVER— BOGNOR. 

Lent  by  Alfred  Chapman,  Esq. 

"  We  protest  against  those  foppish  airs  and  affecta- 
tions by  which  Mr.  Whistler  impresses  on  us  his  con- 
tempt of  public  opinion.  In  landscape  he  contributes 
what  he  persists  in  calling  a  Nocturne  in  *  Blue  and 


3i6  THE  GENTLE  ART 

Silver,'  and  a  Nocturne  in  *  Black  and  Gold,'  which 
is  a  mere  insult  to  the  intelligence  of  his  admirers. 
It  is  very  difficult  to  believe  that  Mr.  Whistler  is  not 
openly  laughing  at  us." — Pall  Mall  Gazette. 


25.— NOCTURNE. 
BATTERSEA  REACH. 

Lent  by  Alfred  Chapman,  Esq. 

<;  Under  the  same  roof  with  Mr.  Whistler's  strange 
productions  is  the  collection  of  animal  paintings  done 
by  various  artists  for  the  proprietors  of  the  Graphic, 
and  very  refreshing  it  is  to  turn  into  this  agreeably 
lighted  room  and  rest  on  comfortable  settees  whilst 
looking  at  '  Mother  Hubbard's  Dog,'  or  the  sweet 
little  pussy  cats  in  the  '  Happy  Family.'  " 

Liverpool  Courier. 

"  A  few  smears  of  colour,  such  as  a  painter  might 
make  in  cleaning  his  paint  brushes,  and  which,  neither 
near  at  hand  nor  far  off,  neither  from  one  side  nor 
from  the  other,  nor  from  in  front,  do  more  than 
vaguely  suggest  a  shore  and  bay,  was  described  as  a 

Note  in  Blue  and  Brown One  who  found  these 

pictures  other  than  insults  to  his  artistic  sense  could 
never  be  reached  by  reasoning." — Knowledge. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  317 

26.— GREEN  AND  GREY. 

CHANNEL. 
Lent  by  Alfred  Chapman,  Esq. 


27.— PINK  AND  GREY. 

CHELSEA. 
Lent  by  Cyril  Flower,  Esq.,  M.P. 

"  .  .  .  .of  the  insolent  madness  of  that  school  of 
which  Mr.  Whistler  is  the  most  peccant — we  wish  we 
could  say  the  only — representative." — Knowkdge. 


28.— NOCTURNE. 
BLUE  AND  GOLD— VALPARAISO. 

Lent  by  Alexander  lonides,  Esq. 

"  '  A  Nocturne '  or  two  by  Mr.  Whistler — and  here 
we  have  it  in  the  usual  style — a  daub  of  blue  and  a 
spot  or  two  of  yellow  to  illustrate  ships  at  sea  on  a 
dark  night,  and  a  splash  and  splutter  of  brightness 
on  a  black  ground  to  depict  a  display  of  fireworks." 

Norwich  Argus. 


3i8  THE  GENTLE  ART 

29.— GREEN  AND  GREY. 
THE  OYSTER  SMACKS— EVENING. 

Lent  by  Alexander*  lonides,  Esq. 
"  Other  people  paint  localities ;  Mr.  Whistler  makes 
artistic  experiments." — Academy. 


30.— GREY  AND  BLACK. 

SKETCH. 
Lent  by  Alexander  lonides,  Esq. 


31.— BROWN  AND  SILVER. 
OLD  BATTER  SEA  BRIDGE. 

Lent  by  Alexander  lonides,  Esq. 
"  Xor  can  I  imagine  anyone  acquainted  with  Mr. 
\Vhistler's works  speaking  of  any  of  them  as  'com- 
pleted.' "—Letter  to  «  Pall  Mall." 


32.— NOCTURNE. 
BLACK  AND  GOLD. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  319 

33.— SYMPHONY  IN  WHITE,  No.  n. 
THE  LITTLE  WHITE  GIRL. 

Lent  by  Gerald  Potter,  Esq. 

"Another  picture,  'The  Little  White  Girl,'  was 
exhibited  about  the  same  time,  containing  the  germ 
of  that  paradoxical  Whistlerian  humour  lately  so  fully 
exemplified  in  various  places  about  London.  It  was 
called  '  A  Little  White  Girl '  in  the  catalogue,  and 
yet  its  colour  generally  was  grimy  grey." — London. 

"  The  white  girl  was  standing  at  the  side  of  a  mirror 
where  the  laws  of  incidence  and  refraction  would 
unfortunately  not  permit  her  to  see  her  own  beauty." 

Merrie  England. 

34.— NOCTURNE. 
BLUE  AND  SILVER— CREMORNE  LIGHTS. 

Lent  l>y  Gerald  Potter,  Esq. 

"  I  have  expressed,  and  still  adhere  to  the  opinion, 
that  these  pictures  only  come  one  step  nearer  than  a 
delicately  tinted  wall  paper." 

The  Art  Critic  of  the11  Times" 

Evidence  at  Westminster,  Nov.  16,  1878. 

"  Paintings,  like  some  of  the  '  Nocturnes, 'and  some 
of  the  *  Arrangements,'  are  defended  only  by  a 


320  THE  GENTLE  ART 

generous  self-deception,  when  it  is  urged  for  them 
that  they  will  be  famous  to-morrow  because  they  are 
not  famous  to-day." 

Mr.  Wedmore, 

" Nineteenth  Century" 

35.— GREY  AND  SILVER. 
CHELSEA  WHARF. 

Lent  by  Gerald  Potter,  Esq. 

36.— GREY  AND  SILVER. 
OLD  BATTEKSEA  REACH. 

Lent  by  Madame  Coronio. 

37.— BLUE  AND  SILVER. 

"  He  has  no  atmosphere  and  no  light.  Instead  of 
air  he  studies  various  kinds  of  fog — and  his  '  values ' 
are  the  relative  powers  of  darkness,  not  of  light.  He 
never  paints  a  sky." — Merrie  England. 

38.— NOCTURNE. 
BLUE  AND  GOLD— ST.  MARK'S,  VENICE. 

Lent  by  Monsieur  Gallimard. 

"  The  mannerism  of  Canaletto  is  the  most  degraded  that  I  know 

in  the  whole  range  of  art 

11  .  .  .  .   It  gives  no  one  single  architectural  ornament,  however 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  321 

near — so  much  form  as  might  enable  us  even  to  guess  at  its  actual 
one ;  and  this  I  say  not  rashly,  for  I  shall  prove  it  by  placing 
portions  of  detail  accurately  copied  from  Canaletto  side  by  side 
with  engravings  from  the  daguerreotype. 

"  .  .  .  .  There  is  no  stone  drawing,  no  vitality  of  architecture 
like  Prout's."— Prof.  Ruskin,  Art  Teacher. 

"  In  Mr.  Whistler's  productions  one  might  safely 
say  there  is  no  culture." — Athenceum. 

"  Imagine  a  man  of  genius  following  in  the  wake  of 
Whistler !  "—Oracle. 

"  The  measure  of  originality  has  at  times  been 
overrated  through  the  innocent  error  of  the  budding 
amateur,  who  in  the  earlier  stage  of  his  enlighten- 
ment confuses  the  beginning  with  the  end,  accepts  the 
intention  for  the  adequate  fulfilment,  and  exalts  an 
adroit  sketch  into  the  rank  of  a  permanent  picture." 
F.  Wedmore,  "  Four  Masters  of  Etching" 


39.— CREPUSCULE  IN  OPAL. 

Lent  by  Fred.  Jameson,  Esq. 

"  Mr.  Whistler  is  eminently  an  *  Impressionist.' 
The  final  business  of  art  is  not  with  *  impressions.' 
We  want  not  *  impressionists '  but  'expressionists,' 
men  who  can  say  what  they  mean  because  they  know 
what  they  have  heard,  [Sic  /] 


322  THE  GENTLE  ART 

"  We  want  not  always  the  blotches  and  misty 
suggestions  of  the  impressionist,  <£c." — Artist. 

40.— HARMONY  IN  FLESH  COLOUR  AND  GREEN. 

THE  BALCONY. 
Lent  by  John  Cavafy,  Esq.,  M.D. 

"  It  is  perhaps  a  little  difficult  for  any  critic  to  be 
quite  absolutely  just  to  Mr.  Whistler  at  present,  on 
account  of  his  eccentricities  and  his  apparent  deter- 
mination to  make  us  forget  the  qualities  of  the  artist 
in  our  amusement  at  the  freaks  and  fancies  of  the 
man." — P.  G.  Hamerton,  in  the  "  Academy" 

"A  Variation  in  Flesh  Colour  and  Green.  The 
damsels — they  were  not  altogether  meritorious.  The 
draughtsmanship  displayed  in  them  was  anything 
but  *  searching.' " — F.  Wedmore. 

"  At  about  the  same  time  the  artist  exhibited  other 
sketches  (we  ask  indulgence  for  the  word)  of  a  like 
character,  notes  of  impressions  of  white  dresses,  fur- 
niture, balconies,  and  incidental  faces  and  figures." 

Merrie  England. 

"  The  'evolution  principle '  has  been  visibly  in  opera- 
tion for  a  dozen  years  or  so  in  the  successive  Whistlers 
put  before  the  public  during  that  time.  First  of 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  323 

all  we  remember  pictures  of  ladies  pale  and  at- 
tenuate poring  with  tender  interest  over  vermilion 
scarfs.  The  taint  of  realism  was  on  them,  but  even- 
in  them  were  hints  of  the  pensive  humour  that  was  to 
fetch  mankind  in  the  well-known  *  arrangements '  at 
a  later  time.  A  good  deal  was  left  to  the  spectator's 
imagination  even  in  them." — London. 

"  We  note  his  predilections  for  dinginess  and  dirt." 

Weekly  Press. 

41.— ARRANGEMENT  IN  BLACK. 

LA  DAME  AU  BRODEQUIN  JAUNE. 
"  All  these  pictures  strike  us  alike. 
"They   seem   like   half-materialised    ghosts    at   a 
spiritualistic  seance.     I  cannot  help  wondering  when 
they  will  gain  substance  and  appear  more  clearly  out 
of  their  environing  fog,  or  when  they  will  melt  alto- 
gether from  my  attentive  gaze." — Echo. 

"  He  has  placed  one  of  his  portraits  on  an  asphalte 
floor  and  against  a  coal-black  background,  the  whole 
apparently  representing  a  dressy  woman  in  an  inferno 
of  the  worldly."—  Merrie  England. 

"Mr.  Whistler  has  a  capricious  rendering  of  a  lady 
dressed  in  black,  in  a  black  recess,  on  a  dark  green 
floor.  She  is  turning  affectedly  half-round  towards 


324  THE  GENTLE  ART 

the  spectator  as  she  buttons  the  gant  de  suede  upon 
her  left  hand,  <kc.  <&c.  Its  obvious  affectations  render 
the  work  displeasing." — Morning  Advertiser. 

42.— ARRANGEMENT  IN  GREY  AND  BLACK. 

THOMAS  CARLYLE. 

Lent  by  the  Corporation  of  Glasgow. 
"The  purpose  of  this  picture  is  a  form  of  hero- 
worship  which  would  certainly  not  have  received  the 
approbation  of  Carlyle. 

" .  .  .  .  This  very  doubtful  masterpiece — unhappy 
ratepayers  of  Glasgow." — Dundee  Advertiser. 

" .  .  .  .  and  to  have  recorded  on  a  doleful  canvas 
the  head  and  figure  of  Carlyle " — F.  Wedmore. 

".  .  .  .  The  rugged  simplicity  of  Mr.  Carlyle  .  .  .  . 
to  have  painted  these  things  alone — however  strange 
their  mannerism  or  incomplete  their  technique." 

Nineteenth  Century. 

"  The  portentous  purchase  by  the  civic  authorities  of 
Mr.  Whistler's  senile  Carlyie  renders  it  necessary  for 
that  section  of  the  community  who  are  not  enamoured 
of  Impressionism  to  watch  with  some  vigilance  the 
next  steps  taken  by  that  body  towards  the  formation 
of  the  permanent  collection. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  325 

"  A  portrait  which  omits  entirely  to  bring  out  the 
individuality  of  the  sitter,  stands  but  little  chance  of 
recognition  even  from  immediate  posterity." 

Letter  to  "  Glasgow  Herald"  March  4,  1892. 

"  We  cannot  forget  his  encounter  some  years  ago 
with  Mr.  Ruskin,  nor  the  contemptuous  terms  in 
which  that  foremost  of  art  critics  denounced  his  work. 
It  has  been  left  to  Glasgow  to  rectify  Mr.  Ruskin's 
blunder  in  this  matter,  and  it  vindicates  the  merits 
of  the  American  artist  over  whose  artistic  vagaries 
— his  nocturnes  and  harmonies  in  blue  and  gold — 
the  whole  press  of  Britain  made  merry." 

Dundee  Advertiser. 

"There  is,  among  portraits  of  great  writers,  Mr. 
"Whistler's  portrait  of  Carlyle.  It  is  a  picture  whose 
story  is  complete,  whose  honours  have  been  gathered 
abroad — in  Paris,  in  Brussels,  in  Munich.  Its  destiny 
has  been  accomplished ;  it  belongs  to  the  City  of 
Glasgow,  and  from  the  corporation  of  that  city  was 
borrowed  for  the  Victorian  Exhibition.  The  cor- 
poration lent  it  in  good  faith ;  the  borrowers  have 
treated  it  with  all  the  indignity  it  is  in  their  power  to 
bestow  on  it. 

"  Could  there  be  a  better  epitome  of  the  recent  his- 
tory of  art  in  England  ?  One  work  of  Mr.  Whistler's 


326  THE  GENTLE  ART 

is  received  with  high  honour  in  the  Luxembourg  on  its 
way  to  the  Louvre ;  and  at  that  very  moment  another 
work  of  his,  worthy  to  rank  with  the  first,  is  hoist 
with  equally  high  disrespect  to  the  ceiling  of  a  gallery 
in  London." — iV".  Y.  Tribune,  Jan.  17,  1892. 

43.— HARMONY  IN  PINK  AND  GREY. 
PORTRAIT  OF  LADY  MEUX. 

Lent  by  Sir  Henry  Meux. 

"Portrait  of  Mrs.  Meux,  in  which  it  was  not  so 
much  the  face  as  the  figure  and  the  movement  that 
came  to  be  deftly  suggested,  if  hardly  elaborately  ex- 
pressed."— F.  Wedmore. 

"All  Mr.  Whistler's  work  is  unfinished.  It  is 
sketchy.  He  no  doubt  possesses  artistic  qualities, 
and  he  has  got  appreciation  of  qualities  of  tone ;  but 
he  is  not  complete,  and  all  his  works  are  in  the  nature 
of  sketching." 

The  Art  Critic  of  the  "  Times," 

Evidence  at  Westminster,  Nov.  16,  1878. 

44.— ARRANGEMENT  IN  GREY  AND  BLACK. 
PORTRAIT  OF  THE  PAINTER'S  MOTHER. 

Photograph  of  Picture. 

"  This  canvas  is  large  and  much  of  it  vacant. 

"  A  dim,  cold  light  fills  the  room,  where  the  flat,  grey 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  327 

wall  is  only  broken  by  a  solitary  picture  in  black  and 
white ;  a  piece  of  f oldless,  creaseless,  Oriental  flowered 
crape  hangs  from  the  cornice.  And  here,  in  this 
solemn  chamber,  sits  the  lady  in  mournful  garb. 
The  picture  has  found  few  admirers  among  the  thou- 
sands who  seek  to  while  away  the  hours  at  Burlington 
House,  and  for  this  result  the  painter  has  only  to 
thank  himself."— Times. 

"' Arrangement  in  Grey  and  Black:  Portrait  of 
the  Painter's  Mother,'  is  another  of  Mr.  Whistler's 
experiments. 

"  It  is  not  a  picture,  and  we  fail  to  discover  any  object 
that  the  artist  can  have  in  view  in  restricting  himself 
almost  entirely  to  black  and  grey." — Examiner. 

"  The  *  arrangement '  is  stiff  and  ugly  enough  to 
repel  many." — Hour. 

"  Before  such  pictures  as  the  full-length  portraits  by 
Mr.  Whistler,  critic  and  spectator  are  alike  puzzled. 
Criticism  and  admiration  seem  alike  impossible,  and 
the  mind  vacillates  between  a  feeling  that  the  artist 
is  playing  a  practical  joke  upon  the  spectator,  or  that 
the  painter  is  suffering  from  some  peculiar  optical 
delusion.  After  all,  there  are  certain  accepted  canons 
about  what  constitutes  good  drawing,  good  colour,  and 
good  painting,  and  when  an  artist  deliberately  sets 


328  THE  GENTLE  ART 

himself  to  ignore  or  violate  all  of  these,  it  is  desirable 
that  his  work  should  not  be  classed  with  that  of 
ordinary  artists." — Times. 


He  that  telleth  a  tale  to  ....  Carlyle's  ma- 
jority speaketh  to  one  in  a  slumber ;  when  he 
hath  told  his  tale  he  will  say,  What  is  the 
matter?" 


RESUME. 

"  It  is  impossible  to  take  Mr.  Whistler  seriously." 

Advertiser. 

11 A  combination  of  circumstances  has,  within  the 
last  year  or  two,  brought  the  name  and  work  of  Mr. 
Whistler  into  special  publicity.  .  .  . 

"  At  the  Grosvenor  Gallery  the  less  desirable  of  his 
designs  aroused  the  inconsiderate  ire  of  a  man  of 
genius  and  splendid  authority. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  329 

"  If  it  be  Mr.  Whistler's  theory  that  that  which  all 
the  world  of  greatest  artists  (?)  has  mistaken  for  mere 
means  has  been  in  very  seriousness  the  end,  then  the 
aim  of  Art  is  immeasurably  lowered !  .  .  .  . 

"  If  there  be  anything  to  the  point,  it  is  to  implore 
us  to  take  a  stone  for  bread,  and  the  grammar  of  a 
language  in  place  of  its  literature. 

"  Mr.  Whistler  has  assumed  that  it  is  only  the 
painter  who  is  occupied  with  art.  .  .  .  Unless  he  is  a 
very  exceptional  man.  ...  If  he  is  not  of  the  school 
of  Fulham,  he  is  of  the  school  of  Holland  Park,  or  of 
the  Grove  End  Road. 

"  Has  he,  like  Mr.  Ruskin,  devoted  thirty  years  of  a 
poet's  life  to  the  Galleries  of  Europe  ? 

"  Has  he,  like  Diderot,  inquired  curiously  into  the 
meaning  and  message  of  this  thing  and  that  ?  And 
appreciating  Gfreuze,  been  able  to  appreciate  Char- 
din?  (I  I)" 

Mr.  Wedmore, 

" Nineteenth  Century" 


"  Mr.  Ruskin's  whole  body  of  doctrine,  from  the  very 
young  days,  in  which  he  took  the  duty  of  teacher,  on 
to  his  old  age,  was  contradicted  by  Mr.  Whistler's 
pictures." — Merrie  England. 


330  THE  GENTLE  ART 

"In  painting,  his  success  is  infrequent,  and  it  is 
limited. 

"  In  painting,  Mr.  Whistler  is  an  impressionist.  His 
best  painting  betrays  something  of  that  almost  modern 
sensitiveness  to  pleasurable  juxtapositions  of  delicate 
colour  which  we  admire  in  Orchardson,  in  Linton 
(sic  /),  and  in  Albert  Moore ;  it  betrays,  sometimes,  as 
in  a  portrait  of  Miss  Alexander,  a  deftness  of  brush- 
work  in  the  wave  of  a  feather,  in  the  curve  of  a  hat 
.  .  .  and  of  high  art  qualities  it  betrays  not  much 
besides. 

"  It  is  true  that  the  originality  of  his  painted  work  is 
somewhat  apt  to  be  dependent  on  the  innocent  error 
that  confuses  the  beginning  with  the  end,  accepts  the 
intention  for  the  execution,  and  exalts  an  adroit  sketch 
into  the  rank  of  a  permanent  picture." 

F.  Wecknore,  "Four  Masters  of  Etching." 

"  I  think  Mr.  Whistler  had  great  powers  at  first, 
which  he  has  not  since  justified/' 
Mr.  Jones,  R.A., 

Evidence  in  Court,  Nov.  16,  1878. 

"  The  right  time  and  the  right  place  for  the  con- 
spicuousness  of  an  Impressionist  were  undoubtedly 
England,  and  the  moment  when  Mr.  Whistler  rose 
up  and  astonished  her. 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  331 

"  In  Paris  he  was  one  of  many,  though  he  would  be 
at  peace  in  France,  that  peace  would  not  be  unattended 
with  a  certain  comparative  obscurity. 

"  Inconspicuous  solitude  would  not  have  had  the 
same  charms  for  him." — Merrie  England. 


"  Au  niusee  du  Luxembourg,  vient  d'etre  place,  de 
M.  WHISTLER,  le  splendide  Portrait  de  M™  Whistler 
mere,  une  ceuvre  destinee  a  1'eternite  des  admirations, 
une  ceuvre  sur  laquelle  la  consecration  das  siecles 
semble  avoir  mis  la  patine  d'un  Rembrandt,  d'un 
Titien  ou  d'un  Velasquez." — GTironique  des  Beaux-Arts. 


MORAL. 

"  Modern  British  (!)  art  will  now  be  represented 
in  the  National  Gallery  of  the  Luxembourg 
by  one  of  the  finest  paintings  due  to  the 
brush  of  an  English  (!)  artist,  namely,  Mr. 
Whistler's  portrait  of  his  mother." — Illustrated 
London  News. 


332  THE  GENTLE  ART 


A  Zealous  Inquirer. 

"  A  brown- paper  covered  catalogue  ....  compiled 
by  Mr.  Whistler  .... 

"  Several  opinions  (and  his  '  evidence  at  Westmin- 
ster ')  are  quoted  of  *  Mr.  Jones,  R.A.,'  in  the  year 
1878.  Who  is  Mr.  Jones,  R.A.  ?  Mr.  Jones,  KA.  (of 
whom  the  Duke  of  Wellington — but  no  matter  ....), 
died  in  1869.  Mr.  Burne-Jones  was  not  elected  an 
A.R.A.  until  1885.  I  am  afraid  I  expose  myself,  but 
I  still  venture  to  ask,  who  is  '  Mr.  Jones,  R.A. '  ?  " 


OF  MAKING  ENEMIES  .333 


Final  Acknowledgments. 

J, — Your  correspondent  proposes  that  "Mr. 
Jones,  RA."  is  not  RA. — but  ARA. 

You  know  these  things,  Atlas — perhaps  he  is  right,  Mar>  30>  I89e> 
and  curiously  microscopic — for  surely  here  we  have 
"  a  difference  without  a  distinction ! " 

However,  RA.  or  A.RA.,  and,  in  my  opinion  he 
deserves  to  be  both,  I  personally  owe  Mr.  Jones  a 
friendly  gratitude  which  I  am  pleased  to  acknowledge ; 
for  rare  indeed  is  the  courage  with  which,  on  the  first 
public  occasion,  he  sacrificed  himself,  in  the  face  of 
all-astounded  etiquette,  and  future  possible  ridicule, 
in  order  to  help  write  the  history  of  another. 

These  things  we  like  to  remember,  Atlas,  you  and 
I — the  bright  things,  the  droll  things,  the  charming 
things  of  this  pleasant  life — and  here,  too,  in  this 
lovely  land  they  are  understood — and  keenly  appre- 
ciated. 

As  to  those  others — alas!   I  am  afraid  we  have 


334     THE  GENTLE  ART  OF  MAKING  ENEMIES 
done  with  them.     It  was  our  amusement  to  convict — 
they  thought  we  cared  to  convince  ! 

Allans  I     They  have  served  our  wicked  purpose — 
Atlas,  we  "  collect "  no  more. 

"  Autres  gens,  autres  moeurs" 

PARIS,  March  26,  1892. 


INDEX 

Action,  The          2 

Admission,  An          71 

Advanced  Critic,  An          244 

Advantage  of  Explanation,  The          245 

Another  Poacher  in  the  Chelsea  Preserves          233 

Apology,  An          107 

Apostasy,  An          250 

'Arry  in  the  Grosvenor          72 

Art  Critic  of  the"  Times"  The          35 

Art  Critic  s  Friend,  The          277 

"  Aussi  que  diable  allait-il  faire  dans  cette  galere  ?  ' '  22$ 

Auto-biograph:cal         288 

"  Autre  Temps  autre  Mceurs  "  189 

"  Balaam's  Ass  "          41 

Committee  of  the  "  National  Art  Exhibition,"  To  the          164 

Complacent  One,  The          196 

"  Confidences  "  'with  an  Editor          47 

Conviction          8  8 

Correction,  A          66 

Critic  "  Catching  on, ' '  The          1 94 

Critic's  Analysis          44 

Critic' s  tl  Copy  "          50 

Critic's  Mind  Considered,  The          45 

Critic-flaneur,  The          197 


338  INDEX 

Distinction,  A         119 
Document,  A          iz\ 

Eager  Authority,  An          70 

Early  Laurels          176 

Easy  Expert,  The          1 1 3 

Editor's  Anxiety,  An          264 

Embroidered  Interview,  An          2  J 9 

Encouragement          74 

End  of  the  Piece,  The          282 

Etchings  and  Dry -points          93 

"  Et  tu,  Brute  !  "  259 

Exit  the  Prompter          283 

Exploded  Plot,  The         vii 

Extraordinary  Piratical  P/of,  An          v 

Fate  of  an  Anecdote,  The          8 1 
Final          3  9 

Final  Acknowledgments  333 

Freeing  a  Last  Friend  262 
.Fw//  Absolution          46 

Further  Proposition,  A  177 

Great  Literary  Curiosity,  A         ix 

Habit  of  Second  Natures,  The          236 

#/«/,  ^         1 1 8 

/&»*£  of  Taste,  The         230 

Imputation,  An          188 

Inconsequences          79 

Inevitable,  The          1 7  3 

In  Ex  eel  sis         86 

Ingratitude          195 

Insinuation,  An          187 

Interview  with  an  Ex-President,  An         205 

"  ^ax  Innocents  ' '  in  Tite  Street          1 10 
yiuf  Indignation         243 


INDEX 

Last  Effort,  A         x 

La  Suite          61 

Later         54 

L' Envoi         285 

"  Les points  sur  les  i  "  130 

Line  from  the  Land's  End,  A          in 

Market  Place,  In  the          239 

Mr.  Whistler  and  his  Critics          9 1 

Mr   Whistler  "  had  on  his  o-ivn  Toast  "  289 

Mr.  Whistler's  Paper  Hunt          viii 

Mr.  Whistler's  ' '  T«*  o  Clock  "  131 

Naif  Enfant          68 

Afew  Dy  nasty ,  The          2 1 8 

"  Noblesse  oblige  "  1 74 

Nocturnes,  Marines,  and  Chevalet  Pieces          293 

Nostalgia          184 

*'  A'bwf  dr-7/owj  change  tout  cela  !  "          169 

Official  Bumbledom          223 
Official  Letter,  An         229 
Opportunity,  An          1 8 1 
Opportunity  Neglected,  The          183 

Painter-Etcher  Papers,  The          52 

"  P*//  Ma//  ' '  P«**/*/,  T/fc         22 1 

Panic         24 1 

Philanthropy  and  Art          166 

Played-out  Policy,  A         199 

Po/'«r  Acknowledged,  The         43 

Position,  The          37 

Professor  Ruskin's  Group          20 

Prologue          i 

Proposal,  A          51 

Propositions         76 

Propositions — JVo.  2          115 

Publisher's  Note         iii 


3*o  INDEX 

Qttand  meme  !          165 
Question,  A         279 

Rassure-z  vous  !    '      265 

Rebuke,  A         129 

Red  Rag,  Tie          \  26 

Remonstrance,  A         75 

"  Rengaines  !  "          1 6 1 

Retrospect,  A          213 

Royal  Society  of  British  Artists  and  their  Signboard          226 

Sacrilege          1 24. 

Seizure  of  Mr.  Whistler's  Pirated  Writings          vi 

Serious  Sarcasm          38 

Statistics          211 

Straight  Tip,  A          69    ' 

Suggestion,  A         235 

Suspicion,  A         87 

Taking  the  Bait  106 

Talent  in  a  Napkin          193 
Tenderness  in  Tite  Street  162 

Testimony          24.7 
Troubled  One,  A         46 

Unanswered  Letter,  An          78 
Uncovered  Opinions          80 

Warning,  A         67 

«;  Whacking  Whistler  ' '          269 

What  "Mr.  Whistler  had  on  his  own  Toast  "          291 

Whistler  i/.  Ruskin :   Art  and  Art  Critics          21 

Whistler's  Grievance          266.  273 

Zealous  Inquirer,  A         332 


tf -•< LLA.\  J'}'.M-  I'K /•, .S .V 

London  and  Edinbit^h 


